GIRLS'  CLUBS 


READY  FOR  CLUB  FUN! 
A  Group  of  Y.  W.  C.  A.  Club  Leaders,  Blue  Ridge,  N.  C. 


GIRLS'  CLUBS 

Their    Organization    and   Management 
A   Manual  for  Workers 


BY 

HELEN  J.  FERRIS 
fj 

With  an  Introduction  by 
JANE   DEETER   RIPPIN 


NEW  YORK 
E.  P.  BUTTON  &  COMPANY 

68 1   FIFTH  AVENUE 


Copyright,  1918 
By  E.  P.  BUTTON  &  COMPANY 

All  Rights  Reserved 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 


TO 


AND 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

INTRODUCTION xv 

I.  THE  OPPORTUNITY  AND  THE  TASK i 

II.  THE  CLUB  LEADER 14 

III.  THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  CLUB 42 

IV.  THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  CLUB     .       .       .      .       .     71 
V.  PLANNING  THE  YEAR'S  PROGRAM  OF  THE  CLUB    .       .  in 

VI.  ACTIVITIES  THAT  INTEREST  GIRLS 131 

VII.  THE  QUESTION  OF  CLASSES 159 

VIII.  THE  CLUB'S  RELATION  TO  THE  COMMUNITY  AND  COUN- 
TRY      . 195 

IX.  THE  CLUB  IN  THE  OUT-OF-DOORS 221 

X.  THE  CLUB  IN  THE  EVERYDAY  LIFE  OF  THE  GIRL        .  251 

XI.  LITTLE  THINGS  THAT  COUNT 271 

XII.  KEEPING  UP  THE  INTEREST 285 

XIII.  THE  CLUB  IN  ACTION 315 

XIV.  CLUB  WORK  IN  WAR  TIME — OVER  THERE     .       .       .  325 
XV.  CLUB  WORK  IN  WAR  TIME — OVER  HERE       .       .       .  338 

APPENDIX  HELPS  FOR  THE  CLUB  LEADER      .       .       .355 
INDEX 377 


vii 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 

A  Group  of  Y.  W.  C.  A.  Club  Leaders  ....    Frontispiece 

A  Jewish  Girls'  Patriotic  League  Unit 6 

Girl  Scouts  and  Members  of  the  U.  S.  Food  Administration    .     20 

Italian  Girls  Learning  Italy's  "Tarantella" 40 

Greek  Girls  in  a  Greek  Dance 40 

The  Frieze  of  the  Prophets 64 

Inspection  Day  at  the  John  Wanamaker  Commercial  Institute 

Encampment 90 

Out-door  Groups  of  Camp  Fire  Girls 120 

The  Athletic  Badge 134 

" The  Pied  Piper"  Given  at  Hull  House 144 

A^Community  Bungalow 170 

Boys'  and  Girls'  Club  Exhibit 190 

A  Girls'  Protective  League  Meeting 200 

A.  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture  Club 224 

Club  Girls  of  the  Vacation  Association 260 

Chinese  Girls'  Delegation 272 

A  Y.  W.  C.  A.  Pageant 296 

Lunch  Hour  in  the  National  Cloak  and  Suit  Company      .       .318 
"At  Home"  to  Enlisted  Men 342 


INTRODUCTION 


THE  layman  has  apprehended  but  dimly  the  movement 
toward  the  organization  of  women  and  girls  into  clubs 
which  has  been  going  on  during  the  last  few  decades.  Still 
less  has  he  apprehended  the  possibilities  for  national 
service  in  such  mobilization. 

But  the  work  of  such  organizations  all  over  the  country 
could  not  be  dispensed  with  without  real  loss.  Big 
national  problems  have  brought  about  big  community 
problems  with  the  result  that  responsibility  and  oppor- 
tunity for  definite  war  service  are  being  presented  to  girls 
of  all  ages.  Through  patriotic  leagues  and  similar  soci- 
eties they  are  having  their  hands  and  minds  filled  with 
wholesome,  inspiring,  helpful  activities;  they  are  learn- 
ing also  to  serve  other  girls  and  their  country.  Mere 
school-girls  are  helping  to  uphold  the  standards  of  woman- 
hood in  war-time.  They  are  learning  team-work  which 
cannot  but  develop  in  them  a  high  state  ot  community 
consciousness  which  will  grow  ultimat  nto  national 
and  world-consciousness. 

The  impulse  for  the  dramatic  is  very  strong  in  every 
young  girl  when  the  call  comes  to  prove  her  patriotism: 
she  wants  to  wear  a  uniform  of  some  sort,  to  be  a  nurse 
just  back  of  the  battle  lines,  to  drive  an  ambulance. 
She  wants  to  be  in  the  thick  of  things — the  most  natural 
impulse  in  the  world.  But  there  are  other  less  thrilling 

xi 


rii  INTRODUCTION 

duties  that  are  just  as  vital  to  the  future  of  the  nation  as 
these — duties  just  as  vital  as  those  performed  by  the  men 
in  the  front  line  trenches.  They  are  harder,  perhaps, 
because  their  importance  is  not  so  evident.  Never  before 
has  the  country  so  needed  to  realize  to  what  degree  the 
young  women  of  the  nation  are  mobilized  and  are  capable 
of  mobilization,  physically,  mentally,  morally  for  the 
second  "line  of  defense." 

The  Government  has  appreciated  the  splendid  achieve- 
ments of  the  girls'  and  women's  clubs.  Mr.  Hoover  has 
appealed  to  the  girls  to  help  win  the  war  by  conserving; 
the  Woman's  Committee  of  the  Council  of  National 
Defense  has  deemed  them  worthy  to  be  registered  with 
the  woman  workers.  In  these  stirring  days  when  the 
supreme  desire  of  every  one  is  to  serve,  the  message  that 
the  Government  would  give  to  young  girls  is  to  belong 
to  one  of  these  clubs,  to  be  loyal  to  the  ideals  which  it 
represents,  and  thus  to  serve.  The  best  way  to  be  loyal 
to  your  country,  as  has  repeatedly  been  indicated,  is  to 
be  loyal  to  that  small  part  in  which  you  are  privileged 
to  take  an  active  part. 

Miss  Ferris  in  this  authoritative  work  on  Girls'  and 
Women's  Clubs  makes  us  realize  the  breadth  and  depth 
of  the  movement;  she  shows  that  the  club  can  be  a  real, 
constructive,  vital  force  to  the  individual  girl,  to  the  com- 
munity, nation  and  society.  She  points  out  to  the  com- 
munity its  opportunity  to  avail  itself  of  young  girl  enthu- 
siasm and  young  girl  idealism  in  furthering  its  various 
interests  and  in  furthering  the  enterprises  of  the  war. 
She  points  out  suggestively  the  opportunity  before  well- 
trained  women  with  a  genuine,  sympathetic  interest  in 
young  women  and  girls  as  leaders  of  such  dubs.  She 


INTRODUCTION  xiii 

proves  that  this  is  not  a  mere  peace-time  movement  but 
that  it  is  an  active  potent  force  in  England,  France,  and 
Russia  as  well  as  the  United  States  in  war-time. 

When  the  war  is  ended,  these  new  organizations  in 
Europe  will  not  cease  to  exist,  nor  will  the  old  ones  become 
inactive — rather  will  they  multiply  and  enjoy  a  wider 
life — for  we  shall  be  thinking  in  terms  of  the  community's 
good  where  formerly  we  thought  in  terms  of  self.  The 
future  holds  rich  possibilities  for  the  clubs  and  the  faith- 
ful leaders  who  early  caught  the  vision  of  their  potential- 
ites  for  national  service. 


Commissions  on  Training  Camp  Activities, 

Washington,  D.  C. 

June  24,  1918. 


GIRLS'  CLUBS 


GIRLS'  CLUBS 

THEIR  ORGANIZATION  AND  MANAGEMENT 


CHAPTER  I 
THE  OPPORTUNITY  AND  THE  TASK 

FOR  many  years,  those  interested  in  the  development 
of  girls  have  recognized  the  good  that  is  to  be  accom- 
plished in  organizing  them.  We  have  had  Girls'  Clubs 
organized  for  every  conceivable  purpose — athletic  clubs, 
sewing  clubs,  literary  clubs,  glee  clubs,  gardening  clubs. 
We  have  seen  these  clubs  flourishing  in  the  country  dis- 
tricts and  in  our  cities — in  the  tenement  quarters  and 
in  the  best  homes.  Every  large  organization  that  comes 
into  contact  with  girls  has  used  the  Club  method  to  hold 
their  interest  and  to  accomplish  the  work  desired.  The 
Young  Women's  Christian  Association,  the  Young 
Women's  Hebrew  Association,  Settlement  House  Asso- 
ciations, the  Catholic  Sodalities,  the  Girls'  Friendly  So- 
ciety, Sunday-School  Associations,  the  National  League 
of  Women  Workers,  the  Girl  Scouts,  the  Camp  Fire 
Girls — in  all  these,  organized  groups  of  girls  are  busily 
at  work.  Their  Club  Leaders  and  Secretaries  agree  that 


GIRLS'  CLUBS 


through  organization  much  can  be  accomplished.  There 
is  inspiration  and  power  in  numbers. 

Nor  are  the  Club  Leaders  alone  in  their  approval  of 
the  Club  idea.  The  girls  themselves  enjoy  the  Clubs. 
They  know  that  there  is  "more  fun"  if  a  group  of  them 
get  together  for  a  good  time.  And  even  the  more  serious 
work  of  the  Club  is  pleasure  when  they  are  all  doing 
it  together.  For  attendance  at  her  Club  rests  with  the 
girl  herself :  if  she  is  not  attracted  she  will  not  go.  Thus, 
the  rapid  growth  of  girls'  organizations  in  the  United 
States  in  the  past  few  years  shows  the  increasing  in- 
terest which  the  girls  themselves  feel  in  them. 

Such  has  been  the  popularity  of  the  Girls'  Club  idea; 
popularity  with  Club  Leaders  because  through  organiza- 
tion they  have  found  the  opportunity  to  develop  their 
girls  and  to  help  them  attain  high  standards  of  woman- 
hood ;  popularity  with  the  girls  because  the  Club  is  their 
own  precious  possession,  in  which  they  do  the  things 
they  enjoy  doing  and  make  happy  friendships. 

The  outbreak  of  the  war,  furthermore,  gave  a  new 
opportunity,  and  a  new  duty  appeared  before  the  girls 
of  America  and  their  Leaders.  President  Wilson  said 
that  the  winning  of  the  war  depended  on  team  work: 
every  man,  woman,  and  child  was  to  join  hands  in  the 
great  cause  of  Democracy.  From  the  first,  those  in 
authority  at  Washington  turned  to  the  girls  of  America 
as  an  important  group  and  one  whose  power  to  help 
was  great.  Their  appeals  were  made  not  only  to  girls 
in  general  but  also  to  already  existing  organizations  of 
girls.  Here  they  saw  groups  of  girls  ready  for  active 
service,  whose  energy  could  easily  be  turned  to  the  tasks 
necessary  for  helping  the  country.  The  President  set 


THE  OPPORTUNITY  AND  THE  TASK         3 

his  official  seal  of  approval  upon  these  organizations  by 
consenting  to  become  the  Honorary  President  of  the 
Camp  Fire  Girls  of  America.  Herbert  A.  Hoover,  Food 
Administrator,  turned  to  the  girls  for  help  in  his  Food- 
Saving  Campaign.  He  urged  every  Girls'  Club  to  in- 
corporate the  food-pledge  idea  into  their  activities,  and 
in  their  own  eating  to  conserve  the  needed  articles.  He 
asked  them  to  help  in  spreading  the  idea  of  the  "self-re- 
specting garbage  can"  and  in  securing  the  signatures  of 
housewives  upon  his  now  well-known  pledge  card.  He 
asked  them  to  plant  gardens  and  to  preserve  their  prod- 
uce. All  this,  he  said,  was  within  their  power  to  ac- 
complish. 

Miss  Julia  C.  Lathrop,  of  the  Children's  Bureau  at 
Washington,  turned  to  the  girls  of  America  for  help 
in  the  caring  for  little  children.  The  demand  for  the 
work  of  older  women  was  great;  large  tasks  awaited 
these,  tasks  which  could  not  be  accomplished  by  youth- 
ful hands.  But  the  care  of  children  could  well  be  en- 
trusted to  younger  girls,  the  mothers  thus  being  released 
for  other  service.  Miss  Lathrop  opened  the  way  for 
real  and  patriotic  work  in  asking  the  girls  of  America 
to  help  her  in  caring  for  little  children. 

The  Woman's  Committee  of  the  Council  of  National 
Defense  recognized  the  power  of  our  girls  by  asking  all 
over  sixteen  years  of  age  to  register  for  service  to  the 
country,  using  its  official  card.  What  needs  might  arise 
in  any  community,  none  could  definitely  foresee.  But 
the  Council  of  National  Defense  realized  that  the  girls 
would  be  able  to  help,  whatever  the  emergency.  Upon 
its  card,  divided  into  ten  different  classes,  one  hundred 
and  fifty-four  kinds  of  work  were  listed  which  could  be 


4  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

carried  on  by  the  women  and  girls  of  America.  Of  the 
ten  divisions,  one  complete  division  was  headed  "Social 
Service,"  and  under  this  came  such  heads  as  "Camp 
Work,  Playgrounds,  Recreational,  Dancing,  Music,  Set- 
tlement, Social  Clubs." 

Such  a  list,  upon  the  official  Government  card  of  the 
Council  of  National  Defense,  showed  a  recognition  of 
the  good  to  be  accomplished  through  Girls'  Clubs  and 
their  activities;  it  meant  that  the  Council  of  National 
Defense  was  urging  young  women  to  engage  in  Girls' 
Club  work  because  it  is  one  of  the  great  constructive 
forces  in  our  country  and  because,  through  their  Clubs, 
our  girls  have  been  trained  for  responsible  citizenship; 
but  more  than  this  it  meant  realization  of  what  our  girls 
had  already  accomplished  along  these  lines,  of  the  splen- 
did team  work  which  they  had  already  shown. 

For  our  girls'  organizations  had  responded  promptly 
to  the  appeal  made  to  them  by  inaugurating  war  pro- 
grams of  many  and  varied  activities.  The  Camp  Fire 
Girls  of  America,  at  the  outbreak  of  the  war,  had 
adopted  their  Minute  Girl  program — "Hold  on  to  health ; 
Save  food ;  Care  for  children ;  Work  through  the  home." 
The  Girl  Scouts  of  America  had  drawn  up  a  "Save 
for  a  Soldier"  pledge  which  read,  "I  will  give  up  wheat 
breads  and  cereals  one  meal  a  day,  and  candy  two  days 
a  week."  In  the  food-conservation  movement,  over 
68,000  Camp  Fire  girls  pledged  themselves  to  help. 
Girls  everywhere  wrote  food  plays  and  food  songs. 
Many  helped  in  the  distribution  of  food-thrift  bulletins. 
Hundreds  of  girls  planted  gardens  in  response  to  the 
call.  In  Washington,  the  Girl  Scouts,  besides  conserv- 
ing food  in  their  own  eating,  and  planting  their  own 


THE  OPPORTUNITY  AND  THE  TASK         5 

gardens,  did  unusually  effective  work  in  canning  and 
preserving.  These  groups  of  Girl  Scouts  were  trained 
under  the  direct  supervision  of  the  Department  of  Agri- 
culture. When  the  girls  had  learned  the  practical 
methods  of  war-time  cookery,  they  went  out  to  other 
Clubs,  settlements,  and  schools,  and  taught  others  what 
they  had  learned.  When  the  call  came  to  the  Girl  Scouts 
to  help  feed  the  soldiers  who  were  passing  through 
Washington,  they  responded  by  making  five  hundred 
sandwiches  a  day,  for  a  considerable  time,  using  for  the 
sandwiches  the  jams  which  they  themselves  had  put  up. 
Of  work  such  as  this,  Mr.  Herbert  Hoover,  Food  Ad- 
ministrator wrote,  "The  training  which  the  girls  are  re- 
ceiving in  Home  Economics  at  this  time  not  only  will 
help  win  the  war,  but  also  is  a  large  factor  in  developing 
in  them  that  home  instinct  which  will  prove  so  .valuable 
in  later  years." 

From  all  parts  of  the  country  reports  were  sent  in  to 
Washington  telling  of  the  work  which  Girls'  Clubs  had 
accomplished  for  the  Red  Cross,  in  making  the  needed 
articles,  in  caring  for  the  rooms  of  the  older  members, 
in  helping  to  raise  the  needed  funds,  in  selling  Liberty 
Bonds,  in  marching  in  parades  where  their  fresh,  happy 
faces  cheered  the  spectators.  Many  books  and  maga- 
zines were  collected  and  sent  to  the  camps.  Little 
French  orphans  were  adopted  and  the  necessary  clothes 
made  by  the  girls  themselves.  Such  was  the  response 
of  our  American  girls'  organizations  to  the  appeal  for 
their  cooperation  in  the  work  upon  war-time  problems. 

But  the  need  of  our  country  was  and  is  not  only  for 
the  already  existing  Girls'  Clubs  to  take  up  the  special 
kinds  of  work :  the  power  which  our  organized  girls  can 


6  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

wield  would  be  still  greater  if  every  girl  in  America 
were  definitely  connected  with  a  girls'  organization  and 
were  active  in  it.  The  war-time  call  was  one  for  en- 
listment— enlistment  by  girls  with  girls.  A  universal 
answer  to  the  call  would  mean  a  better  America.  During 
the  first  months  of  the  war,  the  call  was  most  urgently 
sounded  in  those  communities  near  our  great  training 
camps.  Those  interested  in  the  protective  work  for  girls 
near  the  Camps  found  that  their  efforts  necessarily  led 
them  to  cooperation  with  Girls'  Clubs.  It  was  not  enough 
to  patrol  the  streets  and  insure  protection  to  the  young 
women.  In  order  to  obtain  permanent,  constructive  re- 
sults, the  next  step  was  to  get  these  young  women  in 
direct  touch  with  an  organization  that  would  influence 
them  day  by  day,  for  weeks  to  come.  Because  Girls' 
Clubs  gave  not  only  the  constructive  influence  but  also 
the  fun  that  all  girls  love,  they  were  found  to  be  the  most 
effective  of  all  organizations  for  this  "follow-up."  So  it 
was  that  the  War  and  Navy  Departments'  Commissions 
on  Training  Camp  activities  under  the  direction  of  Mr. 
Raymond  Fosdick  turned  to  our  girls'  organizations  as 
the  most  effective  means  of  creating  a  wholesome  at- 
mosphere among  the  girls.  The  Commissions  realized 
that  those  girls  who  were  actively  interested  in  a  Girls' 
Club  would  have  little  time  or  inclination  for  those  less 
wholesome  pleasures  which  have  made  the  training  camp 
a  problem  always  and  everywhere,  the  world  over.  "This 
country  will  need  trained  women  in  the  next  few  years 
as  never  before,"  wrote  Mr.  Fosdick,  at  the  outbreak 
of  the  war.  "Every  Girls'  Club,  every  useful  class  which 
helps  its  members  to  be  the  best  kind  of  girls,  is  useful 
to  the  Government." 


THE  OPPORTUNITY  AND  THE  TASK         7 

So  it  was  that  the  war  brought  to  the  girls  of  America 
not  only  the  opportunity  to  serve,  but  also  the  duty  to 
serve  in  the  most  effective  way.  That  way  was  acknowl- 
edged to  be  through  organization.  And  this  duty  and 
opportunity  confronted  not  only  the  girls  themselves  but 
the  organizers  and  leaders  of  girls  as  well.  The  Fosdick 
Commission  turned  to  the  Young  Women's  Christian 
Association  for  help  in  this  great  task.  The  Y.  W.  C.  A. 
promptly  organized  a  War  Work  Council.  It  was  the 
function  of  this  Council  to  study  the  needs  of  our  Ameri- 
can girls  and  to  send  trained  workers  to  those  com- 
munities where  help  was  most  needed.  It  is  an  interesting 
and  significant  fact  that,  without  exception,  the  method 
used  by  these  special  workers  was  to  organize  Girls' 
Clubs.  The  appeal  to  the  girls  was  made  on  patriotic 
grounds.  There  was  not  a  girl  in  America  who  was 
not  intimately  concerned  in  the  war.  Her  brother  or 
her  friends  had  gone.  Was  she  content  to  remain  at 
home,  idle?  The  enthusiastic  response  to  the  appeal 
showed  that  she  was  not.  The  American  girl  stood 
ready  to  do  what  she  could. 

In  general,  this  appeal  to  the  girls  was  made  through 
the  Patriotic  League  idea — an  idea  that  can  be  as  ef- 
fectively carried  out  in  Club  work  in  time  of  peace  as 
in  time  of  war.  The  Patriotic  League  is  for  all  girls, 
whatever  their  race  or  creed.  Just  as  the  war  broke 
down  many  other  barriers,  so  in  girls'  work  the  patriotic 
stimulus  brought  our  girls  together  as  never  before.  In 
Philadelphia,  the  "recruiting"  was  largely  done  by  means 
of  the  following  circular : 


GIRLS1  CLUBS 

THE  IDEA.  GIRLS,  IS  TO  ENLIST! 

WHERE?  In  the  Girls'  Patriotic  League. 

WHY?  Because  Patriotic  League  Girls  are  helping  Our  Country  and 

Because  Our  Country  needs  YOU! 
WHO  ARE  THE  PATRIOTIC  LEAGUE  GIRLS?  They  are  the 

Girls  who  belong  to  Girls,'  Organizations,  and  who  have 

signed  the  Patriotic  League  Pledge. 

i-     WHAT  IS  THE  PLEDGE  ?= 


By  dofng—  better  than  ever-  before  —  whatever  work  I  have  to  do; 
By  rendering  whatever  special  service  1  can  to  my  community 

and  country; 
liy  living  up  to  the  highest  standards  oi  character  and  ho  DOS, 

and  helping  others  to  do  the  same. 


•very  girl  who  signs  this  pledge  and  lives  up  to  it.  is  serving  the  country  and  is  getting- 

behind  the  Boys  in  the  Trenches. 
What  do  the  Patriotic  League  Girls  do?    Right  here  in  Philadelphia,  You  can  join* 

Girts   Club.    Girls  Clubs  are  lots  of  fun,  and,  besides  the  fun,  the  members  learn 

and  do  many  usef  al  things*    If  you  don't  know  where  to  join  a  Girls'  Club,  the 

Patriotic  League  Headquarters  will  tell  you. 
You  can  join  a  Unit  Making  Hospital  Supplies.    Do  you  know  that  the  Red. Cross  says 

that  millions  of  bandages  are  needed  at  once? 
Are  you  knhting?   Any  girl  can  learn  h  Rot  Aid  Classes  teach  jrou  whai  every  girl 

should  know. 

You  can  save  money  by  taking-up  Millinery  or  Dressmaking,  and  making  your  own  clothes, 
You  can  help  at  home  by  joining  a  Cooking  Class,  and  learning  How  to  Help  Hoove*. 
You  can  cheer  people  up  by  helping  to  give  Plays,  and  by  singing  in  Glee  GiuLs, 
Yoa  can  keep  well  and  strong  in  Gymnasiums  and  Dancing  Classes 

Are  YOU  making  the  most  of  your  spare  tint? 


Get 

1  Dto  the 
Recruiting 
Line 
Soon! 

r  lecfge  yourgplf 
At  once  to  the 
Task 

Right 

1  a 

Our  own 
Town! 
1  1  ia  your 
Chance. 

Let. 

Enlist 
All 
Girl. 
Under  the 
Emblem  of  tEcTcaguel 

RECRUITING  STATIONS 

GIRLS' AND  WOMEN'S  ORGANIZATIONS 

Churches       Settlement  Houses       Schools       Recreation.  Center* 

or  at 

Headquarters,  War  and  Navy  Departments  Comimssiona  oa 
Training  Camp* Activities,  135  South  Broad  Street 

The  League  is  for  You  and  Our  Country! 
Won't  You  be-  for  Our  Country  and  the.  League? 


THE  OPPORTUNITY  AND  THE  TASK         9 

Such  appeals  as  this  were,  in  short,  the  recruiting  call 
for  the  mobilization  of  American  girls  through  Clubs. 
And  what  was  the  result?  In  almost  unbelievable  num- 
bers our  girls  responded.  Many  communities  which  had 
never  before  had  any  kind  of  girls'  organizations  erected 
Girls'  Club  buildings  or  fitted  up  rooms  for  the  Clubs. 
In  some  Southern  towns,  where  girls'  organizations  had 
been  considered  entirely  superfluous,  the  citizens  entered 
into  the  idea  enthusiastically  and  placed  rooms  in  the 
public  schools  at  the  disposal  of  the  Patriotic  League 
workers.  In  many  places,  the  movement  was  city-wide, 
and  all  forces  interested  in  girls'  work  came  together 
and  worked  in  organized  harmony  for  the  good  of  the 
community.  The  following  organization  of  a  Patriotic 
League  committee  was  used,  with  some  variations  in 
many  of  our  cities :  Members  of  the  Committee — Y.  W. 
C.  A.  representatives;  Catholic  representatives;  Jewish 
representatives;  Camp  Fire  Girls  representatives;  Girl 
Scout  representatives;  Public  School  representatives; 
Public  Library  representatives;  representatives  for  the 
girls  in  Industry  and  Business. 

Such  a  representation  meant  that  these  workers  per- 
sonally touched  all  classes  of  girls  in  a  city.  The  ex- 
istence of  such  a  committee  meant  mobilization  not  only 
of  the  girls  but  also  for  the  girls.  Large  patriotic  rallies 
and  pageants,  held  by  the  girls,  brought  the  work  of  the 
organizations  before  the  public  as  never  before.  Upon 
the  program  of  the  Patriotic  League  pageant  held  in 
Syracuse  in  the  summer  of  1917  were  written  a  few  lines 
which  show  the  spirit  of  the  girls  who  worked  upon  it. 

"The  Patriotic  League  of  Syracuse  is  no  longer  a  mere  idea. 
It  is  a  live,  working  force  of  noo  girls,  organized  for  better 


io  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

work  and  better  play  in  the  face  of  our  National  Crisis.  The 
pageant  to-night  makes  the  League  spirit  truly  a  possession  of 
the  whole  community.  It  is  significant  of  the  spirit  of  coop- 
erative endeavor  which  must  inspire  the  larger  city.  The 
League  belongs  now  to  Syracuse.  Syracuse  belongs  to  the 
League." 

And  so  it  has  come  about  that  the  opportunity  for 
organization  among  girls  is  greater  than  ever  before.  It 
is  greater  because  the  possibilities  in  organization  have 
been  universally  recognized  as  an  effective  means  of 
working.  Not  only  have  our  Government  heads  ap- 
proved of  the  idea,  but  our  prominent  and  influential 
business  men  have  become  eager  to  introduce  such  ac- 
tivities into  the  life  of  their  employees.  They,  too,  have 
come  to  see  that  it  is  of  great  and  practical  value  to 
them  to  have  within  their  commercial  house  a  Club  whose 
activities  awaken  new  interests  and  broaden  the  horizon 
of  their  employees.  Progressive  Sunday-School  super- 
intendents have  introduced  into  their  churches  the  idea 
of  organizing  the  Sunday-school  classes.  Classes  organ- 
ized in  this  way  broaden  their  activities  far  beyond 
Biblical  study.  Librarians  with  initiative  have  formed 
book  clubs  among  young  girls  and  in  this  way  have 
made  the  Library  a  more  popular  center.  In  many 
fields  the  Girls*  Club  idea  has  been  introduced  because 
those  in  authority  have  confidence  in  its  effectiveness. 

But  the  opportunity  before  us  to-day  is  greater  also 
because  of  the  spirit  of  the  girls  themselves.  Girls  have 
seen  what  girls  can  do  and  there  is  a  spirit  of  action  in 
the  air.  And  because  of  this  spirit,  a  larger  task  lies 
before  those  who  are  vitally  interested  in  the  growth 
of  the  work.  Because  of  the  increased  interest  and  en- 


THEJ)PPORTUNITY  AND  THE  TASK       n 

thusiasm,  there  is  an  evident  need  for  Club  Leaders 
who  can  steady  our  girls  and  direct  their  energies  wisely. 
To  a  Leader  of  girls  is  given  the  privilege  of  directing. 
It  lies  within  her  power  to  teach  her  girls  that  our  coun- 
try needs  and  will  always  need  dependable  girls  who 
can  be  relied  upon  to  finish  whatever  they  undertake. 

In  every  community  to-day,  there  is  a  cry  for  "Girls' 
Club  Leaders  and  more  Girls'  Club  Leaders."  It  is  a 
field  for  vital  service  which  should  appeal  to  many 
thoughtful  young  women  who  desire  to  invest  their  time 
in  a  work  which  will  yield  valuable  returns.  The  Club 
Leader  who  so  interests  a  group  of  girls  that  they  will 
leave  the  street  corner  where  they  have  been  loitering 
and  go  to  a  Settlement  to  play  basketball  has  rendered 
a  real  service  to  her  community.  Every  evening  which 
the  girls  spend  in  wholesome  surroundings  makes  them 
better  able  to  resist  the  influence  of  the  other  forces  in 
their  lives.  The  Club  Leader  will  not  always  accomplish 
all  the  results  for  which  she  hoped.  But  wherever  a 
real  interest  in  her  own  development  has  been  aroused 
in  a  girl,  wherever  ambition  and  purpose  have  been 
awakened,  wherever  she  has  learned  cooperation  and 
thought  fulness  for  others,  there  the  Club  has  become  a 
vital  force  for  good  in  her  life.  Perhaps  but  one  of 
these  valuable  life  lessons  has  been  learned  by  the  Club 
members.  Perhaps  but  few  of  them  seem  to  have 
gained  any  real  benefit  from  the  efforts  of  the  Club 
Leader.  Such  apparent  lack  of  results  is  to  be  expected. 
The  reward  lies  in  the  response  which  some  of  the  Club 
girls  cannot  fail  to  give,  and  in  the  effect  of  the  Club's 
activities  in  their  lives. 

It  may  seem  to  the  new.  Club  Leader  that  her  path 


12  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

is  beset  by  difficulties  and  problems.  These  should  not 
discourage  her.  Any  work  which  has  for  its  ultimate 
aim  the  development  of  the  highest  and  best  traits  of 
character  in  individuals  is  bound  to  be  rilled  with  diffi- 
culties. The  test  of  successful  Girls'  Club  work  lies 
not  in  the  presence  of  difficulties  but  in  the  way  in  which 
the  difficulties  are  met.  An  understanding  of  the  funda- 
mental principles  of  successful  Club  work  has  often 
enabled  a  Club  worker  to  carry  on  a  successful  Club 
in  circumstances  which  are  apparently  unfavorable  and 
exceedingly  difficult.  A  Club  whose  quarters  were  in 
a  dark  room  in  a  factory  of  a  large  city  extended  its 
influence  to  every  department  and  numbered  among  its 
voluntary  members  the  leaders  of  the  women  employees. 
In  another  factory,  in  the  same  city,  the  directors  wished 
to  have  a  similar  Club.  They  built  a  Club  house  and 
thoroughly  equipped  it.  The  girls  refused  to  go  to  it 
and  the  Club  rooms  were  almost  deserted.  The  directors, 
who  were  clever  business  men,  were  at  a  loss  for  an 
explanation  of  the  cause  of  their  failure.  "The  idea's 
all  right/'  said  one  of  them,  "it  must  be,  because  it  has 
worked  so  often.  But  something  was  wrong  in  the  way 
we  went  at  it." 

This  director's  remark  is  an  excellent  explanation  of 
the  reason  why  some  Club  Leaders  fail  where  others 
succeed — there  is  "something  wrong  in  the  way  they  go 
at  it."  But  no  Club  Leader  should  feel  that  her  prob- 
lems cannot  be  solved,  nor  that  she  alone  is  meeting 
them.  The  questions  which  she  is  trying  to  solve  have 
puzzled  many  other  Club  Leaders.  In  the  experience 
of  others,  she  can  learn  and  adapt  much  for  her  own 
Club.  It  is  the  purpose  of  this  book  to  gather  together 


THE  OPPORTUNITY  AND  THE  TASK   13 

such  principles  and  ideas  of  Girls'  Club  work  as  have 
proven  valuable  in  many  kinds  of  Clubs.  Girls  are  girls 
everywhere.  Plans  which  have  been  successful  in  one  ' 
kind  of  Club  can  be  adapted  and  happily  used  in  another. 
Each  situation  has  its  special  needs  and  problems.  But 
there  is,  after  all,  something  universal  in  the  natures  of 
girls  and  the  plans  which  have  proven  successful  in  one 
Club  will  often  be  full  of  usefulness  to  another  Club 
Leader. 

The  girls  of  America  are  calling  to-day  for  wise  Club 
leadership.  One  has  but  to  know  them  to  realize  their 
enthusiasm  and  their  needs.  One  has  but  to  have  seen 
the  attainments  of  vital  Club  work  to  have  faith  in  its 
possibilities.  Where  a  Girls'  Club  is  organized  in  a  com- 
munity and  has  been  guided  to  render  effective  service, 
that  Club  will  not  be  allowed  to  die  away.  It  will  live 
and  it  will  grow.  This  is  the  opportunity  which  lies 
before  leaders  of  girls  to-day  and  this  is  the  task. 


CHAPTER  II 
THE  CLUB  LEADER 

The  Need  for  a  Leader 

THE  necessity  for  having  a  Leader  among  any  group 
of  organized  girls  is  evident  to  all  who  have  had  ex- 
perience with  Girls'  Clubs.  The  younger  the  girls,  the 
greater  becomes  this  necessity  for  the  presence  of  an 
older  person  who  can  steady  their  impetuous  enthusiasm 
and  tactfully  guide  their  activities  into  useful  channels. 
No  matter  what  the  purpose  of  the  Club  is,  the  girls 
are  coming  together  because  of  some  need  in  their  lives. 
This  need  may  be  social  or  educational  in  character. 
But,  whatever  it  is,  a  Club  Leader  who  is  far-seeing, 
wise  in  her  judgments,  and  sympathetic,  can  introduce 
into  the  Club  activities  the  elements  which  will  meet  the 
needs  of  the  Club  members.  Often  the  girls  but  vaguely 
realize  that  there  is  a  lack  in  their  lives.  It  is  part  of 
the  older  Club  Leader's  task  to  discover  it  and  to  meet  it. 

The  presence  of  a  Club  Leader  gives  to  the  proceedings 
of  the  Club  a  stability  which  is  most  necessary.  The 
mothers  of  the  girls  are  more  willing  to  have  their 
daughters  attend  the  Club  meetings  when  they  know  that 
the  Club  is  under  wise  supervision.  If  the  Club  Leader 
is  present  at  every  meeting,  on  Hand  early  to  welcome 
all  comers,  if  she  knows  what  must  be  accomplished  and 

14 


THE  CLUB  LEADER  15 

by  her  suggestions  sees  that  the  Club  does  not  wander 
from  its  purpose — she  constitutes  a  help  to  any  Club 
which  it  cannot  afford  to  be  without. 

When  times  of  stress  and  disagreement  enter  into  the 
Club  life,  the  Club  members  often  look  instinctively  to 
a  fair  and  impartial  Club  Leader  to  make  the  necessary 
decision  and  to  bring  harmony  to  the  ranks  once  more. 
A  wise  and  tactful  leader  can  frequently  hold  a  Club 
together  when,  without  her,  the  Club  might  have  sud- 
denly ended  its  existence. 

The  presence  of  a  Leader  is  often  necessary  for  the 
constructive  development  of  the  Club.  Many  groups  of 
girls  have  but  few  ideas  for  the  activities  upon  which 
their  Clubs  should  enter.  Given  a  good  suggestion  from 
their  leader,  however,  they  are  able  to  enlarge  upon  it 
and  add  their  own  ideas.  Other  girls  have  suggestions 
which  are  practicable  for  Club  work  only  after  they  have 
been  adapted  to  the  particular  situation  at  hand.  A  far- 
seeing  Club  Leader  receives  such  suggestions  and  tact- 
fully modifies  them  for  her  particular  Club.  Such  func- 
tions of  a  Club  Leader  could  scarcely  be  performed  by 
one  of  the  girls  themselves,  for  it  is  the  more  mature 
judgment  of  the  leader  which  enables  her  to  meet  and 
to  solve  the  problems  of  Club  life. 

To  the  uninitiated,  it  might  seem  a  wise  policy  to 
allow  one  of  the  Club  members  to  assume  these  duties 
of  Leader.  Such  a  course  of  action  suggests  greater  op- 
portunity in  the  development  of  self-reliance.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  in  most  Girls'  Clubs  the  presence  of  a 
Leader  is  needed  in  order  to  insure  just  this  training  to 
all  Club  members  alike.  A  Club  of  young  girls  without  a 
Leader — a  Leader  who  insists  that  all  her  girls,  whether 


16  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

self-assertive  or  retiring,  share  equally  in  the  oppor- 
tunities of  the  Club — will  almost  inevitably  see  its  affairs 
gradually  drift  into  the  control  of  a  few  natural  "lead- 
ers," and  its  spirit  of  democracy  lose  force.  A  Club 
Leader  is  needed  among  girls  to  see  that  the  honors  and 
opportunities  of  Club  life  are  distributed  "share  and 
share  alike."  Her  presence  should  mean  greater  oppor- 
tunities for  her  girls  and,  because  she  is  there,  her  Club 
should  be  a  more  helpful  and  happy  one. 

Who  is  to  be  Leader? 

This  is  the  question  which  confronts  many  a  Club  or- 
ganizer as  she  thinks  of  a  group  of  girls  whom  she  would 
like  to  see  formed  in  a  Club.  For  the  majority  of  Girls' 
Clubs  are  formed  at  the  instigation  of  some  larger  organ- 
ization or  because  of  the  interest  of  some  social  worker  or 
other  broad-minded  person.  The  Head  of  a  Settlement 
House  gets  acquainted  with  a  few  girls  who  are  in- 
terested in  sewing.  She  thinks  it  will  be  helpful  to  have 
them  meet  together — and  thus  is  born  a  Sewing  Club. 
An  extension  Library  worker  finds  some  girls  who  are 
interested  in  reading.  She  sends  out  invitations  for  a 
"Book  Party,"  at  the  close  of  which  she  suggests  that 
they  meet  regularly  to  read  and  discuss  what  they  have 
read.  The  idea  is  enthusiastically  received  and  a  Girls' 
Club  is  then  under  way.  Or  perhaps  a  Y.  W.  C.  A. 
secretary  finds  a  factory  where  the  lunch  hour  is  suffi- 
ciently long  for  some  activity.  She  obtains  permission 
to  try  out  her  plan  and  goes  to  the  factory  during  the 
lunch  hour.  The  girls  gather  around  her.  She  tells 
stories  or  amuses  them  with  "stunts."  The  girls  show. 


THE  CLUB  LEADER  17 

their  interest  and  she  asks  them  whether  they  wouldn't 
enjoy  coming  together  once  a  week.  They  agree  to  do 
so — and  another  Girls'  Club  has  been  organized.  To  be 
sure,  groups  of  girls  do  organize  into  Clubs  without  any 
outside  suggestion.  Such  groups  sometimes  apply  for 
admission  into  a  Settlement  House  organization.  They 
have  been  together  in  school  and  now  they  wish  to  have 
a  Club.  In  any  case,  the  group  of  girls  is  there.  They 
can  be  organized.  Now  what  about  a  Leader? 

The  obvious  answer  to  this  question  seems  to  be,  "a 
woman."  And  this  answer  comes  naturally  because 
women  have  successfully  held  the  leadership  of  the 
majority  of  Girls'  Clubs.  Men  have,  at  times,  wisely 
directed  such  organizations,  especially  when  the  Club  has 
met  for  some  class  work  and  the  man  in  charge  has 
been  qualified  to  teach  in  that  definite  work.  But  a 
woman  seems  especially  fitted  for  Club  leadership  be- 
cause of  her  understanding  of  the  problems  which  the 
girl  constantly  meets.  The  Camp  Fire  Girls'  Manual 
outlines  the  qualifications  of  a  "Guardian"  (as  the  Camp 
Fire  Leaders  are  called)  in  the  following  way:  "Camp 
Fire  Guardians  are  older  women,  who,  because  of  their 
larger  experiences,  are  able  to  lead  the  girls  into  larger 
interests.  Mothers  are  urged  to  become  Guardians,  and 
the  meetings  are  usually  held  in  the  homes  or  out-of- 
doors."  If,  then,  a  woman  is  to  be  chosen  as  Leader 
of  a  proposed  Girls'  Club,  what  kind  of  woman  is  best 
qualified  for  the  task?  Shall  the  organizer  search  for 
a  young  woman,  full  of  enthusiasm  and  energy,  or  for 
an  older  woman,  with  the  wisdom  of  judgment  that 
comes  with  years  ?  There  can  be  no  fixed  rule  to  follow. 
Girls'  Clubs  have  succeeded  under  the  guidance  of  en- 


i8  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

thusiastic  young  women,  full  of  the  "stunts"  which  girls 
enjoy.  And  they  have  been  successful  under  older 
women  who  have  had  the  spirit  of  youth  in  their  hearts. 
The  kind  of  Leader  desired  depends  upon  the  situation 
at  hand.  The  social  worker  hunts  for  a  volunteer 
worker.  The  employer  searches  for  someone  to  employ. 
In  either  case,  the  task  is  essentially  the  same.  The 
social  worker  must  find  someone  who  is  willing  to  take 
up  the  task  and  who  will  be  faithful  to  her  responsi- 
bilities. The  employer  must  find  a  Club  worker  who 
is  primarily  interested  in  the  development  of  the  girls, 
rather  than  in  the  salary  he  will  pay  her  for  the  work. 
Each  Club  presents  its  special  problems  and  often 
the  Leader  should  be  definitely  qualified  to  meet  those 
problems.  The  Leader  of  a  Girls'  Canning  Club  in  the 
country  must  understand  the  art  of  canning  and  preserv- 
ing. She  will,  whenever  possible,  introduce  into  the  Club 
life  those  social  elements  which  mean  so  much  to  the 
lonely  country  girl;  but,  first  and  foremost,  the  Club 
has  been  organized  to  can.  And  the  leader  must  there- 
fore have  this  specific  knowledge.  The  leader  of  a 
Literary  Club  will  of  necessity  have  a  knowledge  of 
books.  Her  girls  have  formed  a  Literary  Club  because 
of  their  interest  in  literature.  Her  own  acquaintance 
with  books  will  enable  her  to  suggest  those  books  for 
study  which  will  be  definitely  helpful  and  inspiring  to 
her  particular  group  of  girls.  The  Leader  of  a  Girls' 
Club  in  a  business  house  will  grasp  the  various  phases 
of  the  business  life  in  which  the  Club  is  to  grow,  and 
will  plan  her  work  to  appeal  to  and  help  girls  who  are 
in  just  that  situation.  The  leader  of  a  group  of  foreign 
girls  will  find  it  helpful  if  she  is  able  to  speak  their 


THE  CLUB  LEADER  19 

native  language.  This  ability  of  hers  is  the  door  through 
which  she  can  lead  them  to  an  understanding  of  American 
life^  and  its  ideals. 

Not  every  Club  requires  such  specific  talents.  Most 
Girls'  Clubs,  especially  those  among  the  younger  girls, 
come  together  to  "have  a  Club."  They  wish  to  do  many 
kinds  of  things  in  their  hours  together — singing,  play- 
ing, dancing  and  whatever  else  appeals  to  them.  In  the 
majority  of  Clubs,  in  settlement  houses,  in  Y.  W.  C.  A/s 
and  in  churches,  the  demand  is  for  a  general  Club 
Leader,  one  who  can  rally  the  girls,  interest  them  in  the 
activities  of  the  Club  and  carry  those  activities  to  a 
successful  conclusion.  It  is  always  of  great  help,  how- 
ever, in  planning  the  work  of  any  Club,  to  know  at  the 
outset  what  the  prospective  Leader  is  able  to  do  in  any 
special  line.  The  Settlement  or  Guild  director  can  then 
often  suggest  certain  activities  when  she  knows  that  the 
Leader  is  qualified  to  carry  them  on.  The  Club  Leader 
herself  does  not  always  realize  that  her  talents  can  be 
of  practical  use,  until  the  questioning  of  the  organizer 
brings  the  matter  to  her  attention  and  points  out  the 
possibilities.  This  search  for  some  talents  often  reveals 
others  which  are  equally  useful,  and  the  Club  Leader 
comes  to  realize  this  important  fact — that  Girls'  Club 
work  is  wide  in  its'possibilities  and  its  requirements,  and 
that — whatever  she  herself  can  do  well — this  very  train- 
ing can  be  passed  on  to  her  girls. 

Special  Qualifications  to  be  Sought 

The  following  questions  show  the  points  concerning 
prospective  Club  Leaders  which  an  organizer  of  girls  has 
considered  important  in  her  own  selection  of  them. 


20  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

Choosing  the  Club  Leader 

Her  appearance  and  personality.  Is  she  neat  and  attractive 
in  appearance?  Is  her  personality  winning? 

Her  Training 

Education.  Wha?.  has  been  her  education?  If  at  a  college 
or  other  advanced  school,  in  what  did  she  specialize?  What 
did  she  most  enjoy?  Was  she  active  in  any  non-academic  in- 
terests? If  so,  which  were  they?  Did  she  hold  any  offices  or 
serve  on  any  committees? 

Special  Talents.  Has  she  any  special  talents?  Is  she  musical? 
Can  she  coach  plays ?  Can  she  direct  athletics?  Teach  dancing? 
Can  she  teach  cooking?  Can  she  teach  sewing?  Art  em- 
broidery? Crochet  or  knitting?  Can  she  teach  any  special  arts, 
such  as  weaving?  Does  she  enjoy  books  and  reading? 

Previous  Experience.  Has  she  held  any  position,  volunteer 
or  paid,  previously  to  this?  If  so,  what?  For  how  long?  Why 
did  she  leave?  Has  she  ever  done  work  of  this  kind  before? 
Where?  What  was  the  extent  of  it?  Who  were  the  girls  with 
whom  she  dealt?  What  were  the  activities  of  the  Club?  Did 
she  enjoy  it?  If  she  has  never  been  active  in  Club  work  before, 
how  did  she  become  interested  in  it?  How  much  time  can  she 
give  to  it?  What  are  her  ideas  about  the  conducting  of  a  Club? 


Where  are  Leaders  Found? 

The  heads  of  our  large  social  organizations  naturally 
look  to  our  educated  young  women  for  service  as  Club 
Leaders.  They  have  enjoyed  advantages  for  which  many 
of  these  Club  girls  yearn,  or,  perhaps,  to  which  they  are 
looking  forward.  To  those  who  will  never  be  able  to 
enjoy  them,  the  college  or  school  girl  can  bring  some- 
thing of  the  happiness  and  of  the  lessons  of  school  days. 
To  those  who  will  some  day  be  college  girls  themselves, 
the  Club  Leader  can  bring — through  their  Club  team 


I 


&   g 

o 


THE  CLUB  LEADER  21 

work — some  elements  of  preparation  which  are  not  to  be 
found  in  the  pages  of  the  Latin  grammar.  In  Hull 
House,  the  evening  social  Clubs  (self-governing  groups 
of  young  people)  organize  and  meet  under  the  direction 
of  Leaders  appointed  by  the  Social  Clubs  Committee. 
These  Leaders  are  drawn  from  the  Recreation  Depart- 
ment of  the  Chicago  School  of  Civics  and  Philanthropy 
and  are  students  in  training.  Such  a  plan  is  of  great 
advantage  both  to  the  Clubs  and  to  the  Leaders.  The 
Clubs  enjoy  the  leadership  of  trained  and  vitally  inter- 
ested workers,  and  the  Leaders  enjoy  the  opportunity  of 
contact  with  a  Club,  while  they  are  studying  to  be 
recreational  directors. 

General  Qualifications 

But  such  specially  trained  young  people  are  not  al- 
ways available.  Many  of  our  smaller  and  country  com- 
munities have  no  specially  educated  women  upon  whom 
they  may  call  for  Club  leadership.  This  should  not 
mean  that  a  Club  cannot  be  started  in  these  places. 
There  can  always  be  found  a  Club  Leader  for  the  girls, 
if  careful  search  is  made.  Many  a  mother  has  been 
found  who  has  welcomed  such  an  opportunity  to  meet 
with  her  daughter  and  her  daughter's  friends  and  to  be 
"chums"  with  them.  Often  school  teachers  have  been 
persuaded  to  undertake  the  work;  they  have  been  glad 
to  meet  the  girls  in  an  informal  way  and  to  put  aside 
the  relationship  of  being  the  "teacher."  The  Camp  Fire 
Manual  suggests  these  points  in  the  selection  of  a 
Leader.  "Guardians  should  be  appointed  from  among 
those  ( i )  who  personally  know  the  families  of  the  girls ; 
(2)  with  whom  the  parents  will  cooperate."  If  a  woman 


22  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

is  vitally  interested  in  the  girls,  open  to  suggestions,  and 
eager  to  develop  her  Club,  that  Club  Leader  will  render 
a  service  to  the  Community  through  the  organization 
which  she  is  helping. 

A  Fundamental  Requisite 

Club  Leaders  of  many  years'  experience  often  realize 
that,  while  the  question  of  one's  talents  and  specific 
abilities  is  apt  to  be  a  first  consideration,  it  is,  in  fact, 
secondary  to  another.  Without  this  other,  the  most  bril- 
liantly talented  Club  Leaders  have  failed  in  their  efforts. 
With  it,  those  coming  to  their  Clubs  with  apparently 
empty  hands  have  made  of  their  Clubs  vital  organiza- 
tions. This  primary  consideration  is  the  spirit  of  the 
Leader.  To  have  the  Club  do  its  most  effective  work, 
the  leader  must  be  wholeheartedly  interested  in  its  mem- 
bers and  their  development.  Real  interest  in  the  girls 
means  interest  not  merely  in  their  meetings  of  one  or 
two  hours  a  week  or  a  month.  The  influence  of  the 
best  Club  Leader  extends  far  beyond  these  comparatively 
short  periods  of  their  being  together  in  the  Club,  out 
into  the  lives  of  the  girls,  whether  at  home,  at  work, 
or  in  school.  She  gets  intimately  acquainted  with  them 
and  knows  their  family  life,  their  problems,  and  their 
interests.  No  matter  who  or  where  the  girl  is,  of  what 
age  or  nationality,  she  will  respond  to  real  interest  and 
will  instinctively  go  for  advice  to  her  who  she  feels  is 
her  real  friend. 

"Do  not  go  to  your  girls  with  any  feeling  of  supe- 
riority," a  successful  Club  worker  once  said  to  a  new 
Club  Leader,  "and  don't  feel  rather  satisfied  to  think  you 
are  doing  a  truly  good  deed!  They  will  feel  your  supe- 


THE  CLUB  LEADER  23 

riority  and  will  resent  it.  Instead,  go  to  them  as  you 
would  to  a  group  of  people  whom  you  have  wished  for 
a  long  time  to  meet,  and  as  friend  to  friend  get  ac- 
quainted."  This  key  word  "As  friend  to  friend"  is  one 
which  the  new  Club  Leader  may  well  remember  through- 
out her  Club  work. 

A  small,  unattractive  woman  once  approached  a 
Superintendent  in  a  city  Sunday  School  and  asked 
whether  she  might  take  a  class  of  young  women.  Think- 
ing her  services  would  be  of  no  special  value,  he  gave 
her  a  class  of  three.  In  the  course  of  a  year,  the  class 
had  grown  to  seven.  Two  years  passed  and  fourteen 
were  in  the  class.  The  quiet  woman  had  formed  a 
Girls'  Club  which  met  regularly  at  her  house.  She  had 
called  in  the  homes  of  the  girls  and  had  come  to  know 
their  families.  She  remembered  their  birthdays  with 
cards  and  went  to  see  them  when  they  were  sick.  She 
gave  parties  for  them  to  which  they  were  sometimes  in- 
vited to  bring  young  men.  She  could  not  direct  plays 
or  get  up  a  Glee  Club,  and  yet  when  her  girls  wished 
to  do  those  things,  they  had  little  difficulty  in  finding 
someone  who  was  willing  to  help  them  in  that  special 
line.  Such  instances  as  this  encourage  tentative  Club 
Leaders  who  perhaps  feel  that  they  have  not  sufficient 
ability  for  Club  work.  A  true,  wholesome  friend  is 
what  every  girl  needs  and  it  is  possible  for  an  earnest, 
interested  worker  to  give  and  to  win  friendship  of  this 
kind. 

Other  Desirable  Characteristics 

To  name  all  the  personal  characteristics  desirable  in 
a  Club  Leader  would  be  to  describe  a  combination  of 


24  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

them  which  is  rarely,  if  ever,  found  in  one  worker.  A 
few,  however,  stand  out  as  especially  helpful  in  Club 
work  and  surely  not  unattainable. 

Faithfulness — how  often  has  the  lack  of  it  on  the  part 
of  her  volunteer  workers  brought  despair  to  the  heart 
of  a  Y.  W.  C.  A.  director!  And,  on  the  contrary,  how 
often  has  she  blessed  the  Club  Leader  who  is  always 
present  at  meetings,  always  on  time,  and  who  has  always 
made  the  plans  for  which  she  said  she  would  be  re- 
sponsible! The  best  Club  Leader  places  faithfulness  to 
her  word  before  her  own  personal  pleasure,  and  her  in- 
fluence upon  the  girls  is  strong  or  weak  according  as 
she  considers  her  Club  important  or  unimportant.  One 
Club  Leader  once  wrote  a  pledge  which,  in  her  opinion, 
was  the  most  important  for  a  worker  among  girls  to 
observe.  The  pledge  was  as  follows:  "I  will  always 
keep  my  promises  to  my  girls,  unless  some  real  reason 
prevents.  By  real  reason,  I  do  not  mean  an  attractive 
social  engagement." 

Ability  to  be  fair  and  to  treat  all  Club  members  im- 
partially is  also  desirable  in  a  Club  Leader.  It  is  difficult 
to  be  constantly  impartial  when  some  of  the  girls  seem 
so  responsive  and  so  well  worth  the  effort  expended 
upon  them,  while  others  are  far  from  being  attractive 
and  are  coldly  indifferent.  Unless  a  Club  Leader  is  on 
her  guard,  she  will  quite  naturally  fall  into  the  habit  of 
referring  to  one  or  two  Club  girls  as  ideal  Club  members, 
and  before  she  knows  it,  the  rest  of  the  Club  will  charge 
her  with  having  "pets."  Those  who  have  had  little  interest 
before  will  seize  upon  this  as  an  excuse  for  their  indif- 
ference. One  Club  Leader  found  her  work  made  suddenly 
difficult  because  she  had  held  up  a  certain  few  girls  as 


THE  CLUB  LEADER  25 

a  constant  example  before  the  others.  This  aroused 
resentment  in  the  Club  against  the  good  workers  and 
against  her.  She  had,  to  be  sure,  honored  those  who 
most  deserved  it,  but  she  afterward  said  that  had  she 
realized  the  consequences  of  her  action,  she  would  not 
have  been  so  emphatic  about  the  excellence  of  the  few 
and  would  have  worked  more  intensively  with  the  others 
to  bring  them  up  to  the  high  standard. 

The  necessity  for  maintaining  wholesome  friendships 
is  closely  allied  to  this  ability  to  treat  all  with  impar- 
tiality. Any  who  have  dealt  with  girls  know  what  a 
"crush,"  or  passionate  hero-worship,  is;  and  have  come 
to  dread  its  appearance  as  destructive  to  team  work  and 
Club  cooperation.  Incipient  hero-worship  is  but  natural 
in  girls.  They  are  at  the  hero-worshiping  age.  The 
wise  Club  Leader  will  not  shun  nor  treat  with  disdain  the 
young  girl  who  dogs  her  footsteps.  Rather,  she  will 
make  of  it  the  opportunity  for  developing  a  real  and 
vital  friendship.  And  by  showing  an  attitude  of  simple 
cordiality  and  dispassionate  interest,  she  will  almost  in- 
variably be  able  to  win  a  steady  loyalty  quite  different 
from  flaming  and  fluctuating  adoration,  and  far  more 
lasting.  A  director  of  many  Girls'  Clubs  once  pointed 
with  pride  to  the  fact  that  this  spirit  of  passion  was 
lacking  in  all  of  her  organization.  "Some  people  will 
tell  you  that  it  is  impossible  to  carry  on  Girls'  Club  work 
without  it,"  she  remarked,  "but  it  is  possible  and  we 
know  it  because  we  have  done  it.  To  be  sure,  we  have 
had  a  policy  of  aiming  at  wholesome  friendships  and 
have  kept  it  constantly  before  us.  More  than  this,  we 
have  endeavored  to  have  our  own  friendships  for  each 


26  GIRLS'  CLUBS: 

other  on  the  high  plane  of  balance  and  sanity.  All  of 
this  has  helped  and  we  are  proud  of  the  result." 

Power  to  see  things  in  the  same  way  as  her  girls  is 
of  greatest  value  to  the  Club  Leader.  When  she  knows 
their  home  life  and  their  training,  or  lack  of  it,  there 
comes  to  her  an  understanding  of  their  actions.  "Be- 
fore I  give  any  advice,  I  always  try  to  put  myself  in 
the  girl's  place,"  one  Club  Leader  has  said.  "It's  sur- 
prising how  often  this  changes  what  I  had  meant  to  say !" 

Lack  of  this  very  ability  to  put  herself  in  the  girl's 
place  has  brought  misunderstanding  and  even  failure 
into  the  life  of  many  a  Leader.  A  Club  Leader  in  a 
business  house  once  decided  to  organize  a  Club  among 
some  young  girls  to  meet  during  the  lunch  hour.  The 
girls  were  interested  in  dancing,  so  she  taught  them 
simple  folk  dances.  At  the  outset,  she  had  had  in  mind 
the  conducting  of  a  class  like  the  Physical  Training 
classes  she  had  conducted  in  her  gymnasium.  She  soon 
found  that  she  could  not  do  it  in  that  way.  At  first 
she  was  inclined  to  reprimand  the  girls  for  getting  out 
of  line  and  for  giggling,  but  when  she  stopped  to  con- 
sider the  fact  that  lunch  time  was  their  only  free  hour 
during  the  day,  she  soon  lost  all  desire  to  see  them 
standing  in  rows,  learning  steps  the  entire  time.  So 
there  was  no  reprimand  for  the  girls  who  laughed  heartily 
at  their  own  efforts  to  do  the  dances.  She  provided 
songs  and  games  for  part  of  the  half -hour  with  the 
result  that  when  the  time  came  for  the  dance  work,  the 
girls  invariably  gave  earnest  attention  to  it.  The  result 
of  this  policy  on  her  part  was  the  creation  of  an»  at- 
mosphere of  sociability  and  enjoyment  rather  than  of 
work  to  be  done. 


THE  CLUB  LEADER  27 

A  visiting  Club  Leader  complained  of  her  inability  to 
hold  her  girls  during  lunch  hour  in  a  similar  Club. 
The  first  leader  visited  the  other's  rooms  and  talked  with 
the  girls. 

"She  makes  us  work  all  the  time  on  those  dances," 
objected  one,  "and  she  says  we're  silly  when  we  laugh. 
How  would  you  like  to  work  all  day  and  never  laugh 
even  on  your  lunch  hour?"  The  second  Club  Leader 
could  not  have  made  this  mistake  had  she  been  able  to 
sympathetically  put  herself  in  the  place  of  her  Club 
members. 

Self-Control.  Perplexing  situations  are  sure  to  arise  in 
the  life  of  a  Club,  such  as  try  the  Leader's  patience  to  the 
utmost.  If,  through  them  all,  she  is  able  to  preserve  her 
self-control,  she  will  have  contributed  vitally  to  the  de- 
velopment of  her  girls,  who  are  often  sadly  in  need  of  that 
very  self-control.  The  force  of  a  good  example  is  per- 
haps never  exerted  more  powerfully  than  in  showing 
control  of  one's  temper  when  the  Club  work  is  difficult. 
"She  never  gets  mad  when  you're  bad,"  said  one  girl 
of  a  beloved  Camp  Director,  "but  she  makes  you  feel 
pretty  mean  when  you  break  rules,  because  she's  always 
so  sorry  about  it!" 

And  so  it  would  be  possible  to  make  a  long  list  of 
personal  characteristics  which  enable  a  Club  Leader  to 
exert  a  helpful  influence  upon  her  girls.  Perhaps  the 
best  general  rule  for  the  Leader  is  to  always  try  to  be 
what  she  wishes  her  girls  to  be.  If  her  ideal  is  suffi- 
ciently high,  she  will  never  attain  it.  But  in  the  striving, 
she  will  help  not  only  her  girls  but  also  herself,  im- 
measurably. 


28  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

Getting  Acquainted  with  the  Girls 

The  earnest  Club  Leader  will  at  once  set  about  getting 
acquainted  with  her  girls  in  as  vital  a  way  as  possible. 
She  has  been  given  a  group  of  girls  to  lead  along  the 
lines  of  useful  development.  The  activities  of  the  Club 
and  her  personal  relationship  with  them  must  further 
this  aim.  In  order  to  accomplish  this,  she  must  know 
each  girl.  Her  help  can  then  be  given  wisely.  But  such 
acquaintance  cannot  be  gained  at  once,  nor  without 
definitely  searching  for  it.  For  "knowing  each  girl" 
means  far  more  than  being  able  to  recognize  her  upon 
the  street  and  calling  her  by  name.  It  includes  ac- 
quaintance with  her  family  and  her  home  life,  her  educa- 
tion, her  surroundings,  her  interests — in  short,  an  ac- 
quaintance with  the  forces  which  have  made  her  what 
she  is.  If  a  Leader  has  definitely  in  mind  what  she 
wishes  to  know  about  her  girls,  any  conversation  will 
give  her  an  opportunity  to  learn  the  desired  facts.  It 
may  be  some  time  before  the  Leader  knows  all  that  she 
wishes  concerning  her  girls.  Many  Club  Leaders  have 
found  it  far  wiser  to  approach  the  girls  gradually  than 
to  go  to  them  in  the  attitude  of  a  cross-questioner  and 
by  constant  questioning  to  arouse  their  suspicions  and 
antagonism.  A  friend,  however,  confides  in  a  friend. 
Once  a  Club  Leader  has  proved  herself  a  friend  to  her 
girls,  girlish  confidences  follow  and  the  Leader  is  in  a 
position  to  advise  and  direct  wisely. 

Just  what  it  is  helpful  to  know  about  a  group  of 
girls  varies  with  the  kind  of  girls  who  are  members  of 
the  group.  The  following  list  of  questions,  however, 
includes  many  of  the  necessary  facts  and  may  be  a  guide 


THE  CLUB  LEADER  29 

to  Club  Leaders  in  making  a  fundamental  acquaintance 
with  their  girls.  Miss  Mary  Richmond's  book  on  "So- 
cial Diagnosis"  (Russell  Sage  Foundation,  Publishers) 
also  gives  an.  excellent  set  of  questionnaires  which  fit 
situations  of  all  kinds. 

The  Girl's  Relationships.  Her  Family.  How  many  are  there 
in  the  family? 

Are  the  father  and  mother  native  or  foreign-born? 

Do  they  speak  English? 

What  does  the  father  do?    Is  his  position  steady? 

Does  the  mother  work? 

How  many  of  the  family  work? 

What  is  the  girl's  attitude  toward  her  family? 

Her  Friends.    Who  are  her  friends? 

Are  they  in  the  neighborhood  where  she  lives? 

Are  they  in  her  church? 

Are  they  in  her  place  of  work? 

How  did  she  come  to  know  them? 

Is  she  engaged? 

What  does  the  young  man  do? 

Does  she  expect  to  be  married  soon? 

Living  Conditions.    Where  does  the  girl  live? 

If  she  is  with  her  family,  has  she  a  room  of  her  own? 

Where  does  she  board,  if  a  boarder? 

How  much  does  she  pay  for  board? 

What  kind  of  boarding-house  is  it? 

Are  there  any  rules  about  the  conduct  of  the  girls  who  live 
in  it? 

Physical  Condition.    Is  her  physical  condition  good? 

Does  she  need  special  attention  of  any  kind? 

Is  she  sufficiently  nourished? 

Does  her  physical  condition  bar  her  from  the  more  strenuous 
Club  activities  such  as  basketball? 

Education.    Is  the  girl  still  in  school?  What  grade? 

If  so,  does  she  enjoy  it? 

What  is  her  rank? 


30  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

What  studies  does  she  most  enjoy? 

Is  her  conduct  good? 

If  not  now  in  school,  what  was  her  grade  when  she  left? 

Why  did  she  leave? 

Can  she  return  to  school? 

What  studies  did  she  like  best  when  in  school? 

Does  she  read  or  study  now? 

Has  she  taken  any  course  since  leaving  school,  such  as  a 
business-college  course? 

Occupation.    Is  the  girl  filling  a  position  of  any  kind? 

What  is  the  work  which  she  is  doing? 

By  what  concern  is  she  employed? 

Does  she  enjoy  her  work? 

If  not,  what  would  she  prefer  doing? 

What  are  her  ambitions? 

Is  she  suited  to  her  present  occupation? 

Has  she  talents  which  would  enable  her  to  pursue  another 
better? 

Can  she  be  directed  into  that  other  line  of  work? 

Financial  Situation.    What  is  her  salary? 

Does  she  give  it  all  to  her  mother  and  receive  an  allowance 
from  her? 

What  is  the  amount  of  this  allowance? 

What  is  the  salary  used  for  ? 

How  much  goes  toward  clothes?  Lunch?  Recreation? 
Board? 

Does  she  save  any  and  how? 

Does  she  keep  any  account  of  her  expenditures? 

Religious  Life.    Does  the  girl  attend  any  church  regularly? 

If  not,  does  she  belong  to  any  church? 

Why  did  she  get  out  of  touch  with  it? 

Is  it  a  vital  force  in  her  life? 

Recreation.  What  does  the  girl  do  for  recreation  beside  her 
Club  meetings? 


THE  CLUB  LEADER  31 

Know  Your  Community 

From  the  outset,  the  progressive  Club  Leader  will 
realize  that  her  Club  is  not  the  only  force  which  touches 
the  lives  of  her  girls.  The  Club  meets  for  one  or  two 
hours  every  week  or  two  weeks.  Think  of  the  many 
other  hours  during  each  week  when  other  forces,  for 
good  and  for  evil,  are  touching  those  same  lives !  "What 
are  they?  How  can  I  work  with  them,  and  in  this  way 
establish  more  firmly  the  work  of  my  own  Club?" 
These  are  the  questions  which  come  before  every  Club 
Leader.  Often  they  present  themselves  through  the  de- 
sires or  needs  of  the  girls.  One  of  the  Club  girls  wishes 
to  join  a  church.  What  is  the  best  one  for  her,  in  the 
section  where  she  lives?  A  Club  member  is  eager  to 
study  stenography  and  typewriting.  Where  is  the  most 
thorough  course  given,  and  at  what  price?  The  father 
of  one  of  the  Club  girls  is  living  a  life  harmful  to  the 
best  interests  of  the  family.  What  organization  should 
she  consult  for  help?  The  Club  wishes  to  give  some 
financial  help  to  some  good  cause  in  the  community. 
What  shall  it  be?  Such  questions  as  these  arise  con- 
stantly in  a  growing  Girls'  Club.  The  alert  Club  Leader 
who  knows  the  organizations  and  opportunities  of  her 
own  district  or  town  is  able  to  answer  them  with  prac- 
tical, definite  suggestions,  which  the  girls  can  put  into 
action.  Margaret  F.  Byington  in  her  booklet  on  "What 
Social  Workers  Should  Know  about  Their  Own  Com- 
munities," has  said  of  her  suggestions:  "This  is  not  a 
plan  for  a  Social  Survey;  it  is  rather  an  outline  of 
those  facts  about  local  conditions  which  are  a  necessary 
part  of  the  equipment  for  service  of  the  volunteer  or 


32  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

of  the  regular  in  the  social  army.  In  fulfilling  his  task, 
whatever  it  may  be,  every  such  worker  must  rely  for 
help  on  the  organized  forces,  on  State  laws  and  local 
ordinances,  on  city  departments  and  volunteer  agencies. 
He  will,  moreover,  find  his  problem  so  dovetailed  with 
other  problems  that  all  must  be  worked  out  jointly  if 
anything  is  to  be  achieved. 

"The  knowledge  of  these  forces  and  agencies  is  of 
special  importance  to  one  who  works  among  needy 
families,  since  he  must  utilize  them  constantly  in  the 
rehabilitation  of  individual  families.  Conversely,  he 
should  learn  from  the  study  of  dependency  in  these 
families  what  reforms  are  most  needed,  and  help  to 
focus  the  efforts  of  all  agencies  with  a  social  program  on 
the  removal  of  evils  thus  made  real  to  him." 

The  general  outline  of  Miss  Byington's  suggestions 
concerning  facts  which  the  Club  worker  may  well  know 
is  as  follows : 

Historical  setting  of  the  community. 

City  administration  and  finances. 

Housing. 

Health.    Health  activities. 

Recreation. 

Industry. 

The  immigrant. 

Children.  Child  labor.  Education.  Juvenile  delinquency. 
Child  caring. 

Adult  delinquents. 

Needy  families.    Private  relief.    The  organization  of  charity. 

Ptfblic  outdoor  relief. 

Homeless  men. 

The  aged. 

Community  organization.  Fraternal  orders.  Women's  clubs. 
Business  men's  associations.  Local  civic  improvement  associa- 
tions. Churches. 


THE  CLUB  LEADER  33 

Many  interested  in  the  girl-problem  have  given  this 
matter  of  community  organization  special  study  and  have 
compiled  outlines  of  definite  help  to  workers  with  girls. 
In  Columbus,  Ohio,  through  the  officers  of  the  Girls7 
Friendly  Society,  a  survey  was  compiled  of  opportunities 
for  girls  in  that  city.  The  list  included  opportunities 
for  education,  employment,  amusement,  protection,  labor 
laws,  legal  aid,  lodgings,  lunch  rooms,  savings,  settle- 
ments and  churches. 

The  Young  Women's  Christian  Association,  in  its 
pamphlet  on  "Some  Resources  for  Work  with  Girls  and 
Young  Women  in  Towns,"  places  such  a  survey  as  an 
important  part  of  girls'  work.  This  pamphlet  states: 
"The  purpose  of  a  survey  is  not  for  prying,  but  for  a 
definite  focus  on  facts,  'getting  one's  range/  so  that  there 
shall  be  neither  haziness  of  aim  nor  waste  of  energy. — 
Each  place  is  a  different  puzzle,  and  the  life  and  ambi- 
tions of  girls  are  always  more  or  less  colored  by  the 
influence  peculiar  to  each  locality,  so  that  one  must  never 
generalize." 

The  outline  suggested  in  this  pamphlet  is  as  follows: 

Sources  of  Information  for  the  Survey 

1.  Direct  conversation  with  girls  and  young  women. 

2.  Private  inquiry  of  employers,  teachers,  pastors,  and  parents. 

3.  Reports  of  public  officials. 

4.  Study  of  methods  and  successes  and  failures  of  other  town 
organizations. 

Survey  for  a  Town, 

General,  i.  Population  of  town.  Number  of  girls  between 
15  and  30  years  of  age. 


34  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

2.  Different  nationalities  represented.     If  any  one  nationality 
predominates,  which  is  it?     Is  there  any  section  of  the  town 
occupied  principally  by  one  nationality  or  race? 

3.  Number    of    occupations    open    to    women.      Number    of 
women    employed    outside   of    their   homes.      State    how   many 
girls  are  employed  in  each  of  the  following:     Teaching,  includ- 
ing   music    teachers;    clerks    in    stores;    telephone    operators; 
stenographers   and  bookkeepers;    factories,   hotels,   restaurants; 
dressmaking;  milliners;  domestic  service. 

Discover   for   each   group  how  many  have   homes   in   town. 

4.  Organizations  for  women  and  girls.     Give  names  of  clubs, 
indicating  whether  their  purpose  is  literary,  social,  civic,  philan- 
thropic, telling  the  name  of  the  president  and  the  number  of 
members.     Make  separate  lists  of  lodges  and  also  of  church 
organizations.     How  many  of  these  organizations  have  in  their 
membership  girls  between   15  and  25?     What  organizations,  if 
any,  are  there  whose  membership  is  made  up  exclusively  of 
girls? 

Educational  I.  Educational  institutions  in  town  with  number 
of  girls  attending.  Number  of  girls  in  High  School.  What 
percentage  of  girls  finishing  the  eighth  grade  within  the  last 
three  years  have  entered  the  high  school?  Give  for  each  year 
separately  if  you  can.  What  are  the  girls  doing  who  did  not 
go  on  to  High  School?  How  many  girls  from  the  High  School 
have  gone  to  college  in  the  last  three  years?  What  determined 
the  others  not  to  go?  What  work  have  they  taken  up?  (Con- 
sult the  school  superintendent  or  High  School  principal  in  get- 
ting these  figures.)  Is  there  a  library  in  town?  How  many 
volumes?  Open  how  much  of  the  time?  Does  the  town  have 
a  lecture  course  during  the  season?  A  Chautauqua  in  the 
summer?  What  occasions  during  the  year  attract  the  largest 
number  of  people  to  your  town? 

Social  and  Recreational.  How  much  social  life  and  recreation 
is  furnished  by  the  churches  of  the  town?  By  the  schools? 
Are  there  groups  not  touched  by  either  of  these?  Where  do 
they  find  their  social  life? 

How  many  motion-picture  houses  in  town?  What  would  you 
say  of  the  character  of  the  films  shown?  What  is  the  average 


THE  CLUB  LEADER  35 

attendance  in  a  week  in  one  of  these  places?  How  many  dance 
halls?  Skating  rinks?  Gymnasiums  in  town?  How  much  are 
they  used?  Is  any  organization  making  a  definite  effort  to 
encourage  outdoor  activities  for  young  people? 

Religious.  Number  of  churches  in  town,  giving  denominations. 
Name  of  pastors  and  approximate  membership.  How  many 
Sunday-School  classes  are  there  made  up  of  girls  between  15 
and  25  years?  What  is  the  total  membership?  How  many 
of  the  churches  have  active  young  people's  organizations?  Is 
there  a  city  union  of  young  people  or  any  other  interdenomina- 
tional plan  for  working  together? 

A  large,  general  survey  of  this  kind,  while  suggestive 
for  the  individual  Club  Leader,  is  much  more  broad  in 
scope  than  she  may  wish  to  undertake.  Miss  Eliza  R. 
Butler,  in  connection  with  the  problems  of  Secondary 
School  girl  work,  has  formulated  an  outline  for  a  survey 
in  that  field  which  shows  how  the  idea  of  a  survey  can 
be  adapted  to  special  problems.  The  following  points 
are  included  in  Miss  Butler's  outline : 

1.  Study  of  the  nature  and  interests  of  girlhood. 

2.  Social  programs — to  determine  the  amount  of  time  avail- 
able for  Club  activities. 

3.  School  regulations  in  regard  to  student  activities  and  or- 
ganizations. 

4.  State  laws  and  ordinances  concerning  the  use  of  public- 
school  buildings,  etc. 

5.  The  problems  of  school  life  in  the  given  school  or  group 
of  schools. 

(fl)  Percentage  of  graduates  going  to  college. 
(6)  Percentage  of  graduates  going  into  remunerative  occu- 
pations. 

(c)  Percentage  of  graduates  who  live  at  home. 

(d)  Existence  of  other  clubs  and  organizations  which  may 

be  meeting  student  needs. 


36  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

Contact  with  Other  Leaders  of  Girls 

Perhaps  nothing  is  of  more  inspirational  help  to  a 
Club  Leader  than  meeting  others  who  are  also  interested 
in  girls  and  who  are  dealing  with  the  same  problems. 
Great  benefit  is  to  be  gained  from  such  personal  contact 
and  from  informal  discussion  of  these  problems.  Those 
who  direct  large  organizations  made  up  of  many  Clubs 
have  long  since  realized  the  importance  of  gathering 
Club  Leaders  together.  And  so  it  is  that  we  see  the  Club 
Leaders  of  a  Settlement  House  meeting  to  discuss  their 
plans;  the  Secretaries  and  the  volunteer  workers  in  a 
Y.  W.  C.  A.  coming  together;  we  hear  of  Camp  Fire 
Guardians  or  Girl  Scout  Captains  conferring  in  special 
sessions.  In  many  parts  of  the  United  States  such 
gatherings  are  not  limited  to  single  organizations. 
Groups  of  leaders  have  been  formed  that  are  city-wide, 
county-wide,  and  even  country-wide. 

In  Philadelphia  the  leaders  of  girls  in  that  city  are 
united  in  the  Girls'  Conference.  All  organizations  in- 
terested in  work  for  girls  are  invited  to  join.  The  con- 
ference is  an  open  forum  for  the  discussion  of  city-girl 
problems.  Four  or  more  meetings  are  held  in  the  course 
of  the  year,  and  the  problems  are  then  presented  and 
discussed.  The  roll  of  the  Girls'  Conference  includes 
organizations  of  all  kinds — religious  (Jewish,  Catholic, 
and  Protestant)  ;  remedial  organizations ;  educational 
organizations;  and  recreational  organizations.  The  ex- 
ecutive board  of  this  Conference  includes  a  Girls'  High 
School  principal,  representatives  from  the  Catholic,  Jew- 
ish, and  Colored  organizations  of  the  city,  and  repre- 
sentatives from  such  organizations  as  the  Salvation 


THE  CLUB  LEADER  37 

Army,  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  the  Girls'  Aid  Society,  and  the 
Travelers'  Aid  Society.  A  meeting  of  a  committee  of 
this  kind  gives  many  points  of  view  concerning  the  girls 
of  the  community.  The  following  subjects  which  the 
Philadelphia  Girls'  Conference  has  considered  show  the 
practical  problems  which  have  come  before  them :  "Closer 
cooperation  of  all  field  workers";  "Vocational  training 
and  guidance  and  follow-up  work  of  girls  obtaining 
working  papers,  with  special  attention  to  recreation  and 
character  building";  "Social  Service  for  cases  heard  in 
Magistrates'  Court";  "Work  with  girls  and  women  in 
War  Times" ;  "Constructive  War  Work  with  girls,"  and 
"Recreation  of  women  affected  by  War-Time  Activities." 
In  smaller  communities,  it  is  possible  to  bring  together 
the  school  teachers  and  the  Sunday- School  teachers  as 
well  as  those  directly  concerned  with  Club  work.  The 
Boys'  and  Girls'  Agricultural  Clubs,  which  have  been 
largely  promoted  under  the  auspices  of  the  United  States 
Government,  have  used  the  county  as  a  unit,  and  within 
a  county  have  brought  the  Clubs  and  Club  Leaders  into 
personal  touch  with  one  another.  In  this  way  there  has 
been  created  a  cordial  friendliness  and  cooperation. 

Training  for  the  New  Club  Leader 

Contact  with  experienced  Club  Leaders  is  especially 
valuable  to  the  new  and  inexperienced  Leader.  Many 
young  women  just  starting  out  upon  this  work  have  re- 
ceived valuable  suggestions  by  talking  with  those  who 
have  for  years  been  interested  in  this  line.  Those  who 
are  in  charge  of  many  Clubs  and  of  Club  Leaders  have 
prepared  for  these  Leaders  short  courses  to  be  given 


38  GIRLS1  CLUBS 

at  summer  conferences  or  winter  meetings.  The  fol- 
lowing course  for  Leaders  was  given  under  the  Girls' 
Division  of  the  National  Service  Commission,  New  York 
City,  in  the  form  of  six  lectures  by  women  of  experience 
in  girls'  work : 

A.  The  Club  and  its  Organization. 

1.  How  best  to  reach  the  girls. 

2.  The  value  of  self-government  and  how  to  obtain  it. 

3.  The  necessary  steps  in  the  first  three  meetings  of  a 

Club. 

B.  The  Club  and  its  Activities. 

1.  How  to  work  out  a  program  based  on  physical-service 

recreational  lines.    This  would  include 

o.  The  different  kinds  of  physical  work  possible 
for  girls  of  different  ages.  The  advisability 
of  drill  work. 

b.  Different  kinds  of  service  work. 

c.  Recreation  in  general. 

2.  Dramatic  Work  for  Clubs.     Plays.    Pageantry.    Com- 

munity Singing. 

o.  Educational  value  of  Dramatics.  ^Esthetic  and 
Community  sense  to  be  developed  through 
pageantry. 

b.  The   director:    The  necessary  point  of  view. 

Educational  and  Community  Drama. 

c.  The  production;  Formation  of  Committees,  etc. 

d.  Cooperation :       Drama     league.       Community 

Choruses. 

3.  The  Club  and  City  Social  Agencies. 

a.  How  to  use  Agencies  for  saving. 

b.  How   to   use    Clinics,    Visiting   Nurses,    Hos- 

pitals, and  Convalescent  Homes. 

c.  How  to  use  the  Public  Library  and  the  Art 

Museum. 


THE  CLUB  LEADER  39 

4.  Presentation  and  discussion  of  Club  Plans  which  have 

been  found  to  be  successful  for  girls,  such  as, 

a.  Girl  Scout  Work. 

b.  Camp  Fire  work. 

c.  Woodcraft  League  work. 

d.  Protective  League  work. 

5.  Forum  meeting  for  Questions  and  Discussions. 

Contact  with  Club  Leaders  through  Publications 

Many  books  have  been  written  which  touch  upon  the 
various  phases  of  Girls'  Club  work,  and  the  periodicals 
which  are  published  by  the  various  organizations  give 
to  every  Club  Leader  a  splendid  opportunity  for  gather- 
ing new  ideas  for  her  Club.  The  Camp  Fire  Girls' 
Handbook  (fifty  cents) ;  the  Handbook  for  Girl  Scouts 
(thirty  cents) ;  the  Woodcraft  Manual  for  Girls  of  the 
Woodcraft  League  (fifty  cents) — all  of  these  outline  in 
greatest  detail  many  activities  for  girls.  The  monthly 
publications  of  the  large  organizations  of  girls  and  young 
women  give  many  suggestions  for  the  actual  carrying 
out  of  these  activities.  There  is  no  issue  of  the  following 
Girls'  Club  magazines  which  does  not  contain  definite 
suggestions  for  Club  work,  either  in  the  special  articles 
written  by  trained  Club  workers,  or  in  the  reports  which 
the  girls  themselves  contribute.  Any  Girls'  Club  Leader 
will  find  help  in  the  "Association  Monthly"  (Y.  W. 
C.  A.  publication,  one  dollar  a  year)  ;  "Wohelo"  (Camp 
Fire  Girls'  Magazine,  one  dollar  a  year)  ;  "The  Rally" 
(Girl  Scouts'  Magazine,  one  dollar  a  year)  ;  "The  Club 
Worker"  (published  by  the  National  League  of  Women 
Workers,  thirty  cents  a  year).  By  subscribing  to  one 
or  all  of  these  publications  any  Club  Leader  can,  at  a 


40  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

small  expense,  receive  a  constant  influx  of  new  ideas. 
It  matters  little  whether  or  not  she  has  a  group  of  girls 
under  any  of  these  particular  organizations;  there  is 
suggestion  and  inspiration  for  her  in  all  work  which  is 
being  carried  on  among  girls. 

Cooperation  with  Other  Individuals 

Many  Club  Leaders  have  found  that  there  are  others 
living  in  the  same  community  who  are  willing  to  help 
in  the  work  of  their  Clubs.  These  others  are  not  willing 
to  undertake  the  work  of  a  Club,  but  they  are  glad  to 
give  their  help  in  coaching  a  play,  in  training  a  Glee 
Club  for  a  certain  concert,  or  in  arranging  for  a  special 
outing.  The  Club  Leader  who  makes  use  of  not  only 
her  own  talents  but  also  those  of  her  friends  finds  help 
waiting  for  her  where  she  may  least  expect  it. 

One  Club  Leader  in  a  large  city  successfully  intro- 
duced the  "Big  Sister"  idea  into  her  Club  work.  Her 
girls  were  of  a  kind  who  needed  a  large  amount  of  in- 
dividual attention.  She  herself  was  unable  to  give  it. 
So  she  sought  the  help  of  a  number  of  her  friends,  asking 
each  one  to  take  one  girl  in  the  Club  and  be  her  "big 
sister,"  taking  her  out  to  wholesome  pleasures,  watching 
her,  and  advising  her.  The  plan  was  well  worth  the 
effort,  and  the  girls  profited  by  these  helpful  friendships. 

The  New  Club  Leader 

The  numerous  possibilities  in  Girls'  Club  work  should 
cause  no  young  woman  who  is  genuinely  interested  in 
it  to  hesitate  in  undertaking  it.  There  is  help  for  her 


(Photo  by  Brown  Bros.} 

ITALIAN  GIRLS  LEARNING  ITALY'S  "  TARANTELLA 

International  Institute,  New  York  City 


(Photo  by  Brown  Bros.) 

GREEK  GIRLS  IN  A  GREEK  DANCE 

International  Institute,  New  York  City 


THE  CLUB  LEADER  41 

at  every  turn,  through  these  many  and  various  channels. 
She  may  feel  that  her  talents  are  meager  and  that  she 
is  not  well-equipped.  But  as  her  Club  grows  and  de- 
velops, she,  too,  will  grow  and  develop.  The  girls  them- 
selves and  those  ready  and  anxious  to  help  her  will 
teach  her.  As  Dr.  Luther  H.  Gulick,  President  of  the 
Camp  Fire  Girls,  has  said,  "The  paradox  of  life  is  that 
we  keep  that  part  of  it  which  we  give  to  others  and  that 
we  lose  that  which  we  save  for  ourselves.  The  breath 
of  the  Spirit  is  like  the  breeze — grasp  it  to  hold  and 
there  is  nothing.  It  is  like  the  heart  which  grows  by 
giving  love.  Without  love,  save  it,  and  the  heart  is 
empty." 


CHAPTER  III 
THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  CLUB 

THE  question  as  to  who  shall  be  members  in  their 
Club  comes  before  every  group  of  girls  who  are  organ- 
izing. If  there  are  already  a  number  of  them  who  have 
naturally  come  together,  the  problem  to  be  decided  is 
whether  or  not  they  shall  admit  others  into  their  circle. 
For  some  of  them  may  move  away  or  other  girls  may 
wish  to  come  in.  If  so,  what  shall  decide  who  they  are 
to  be  and  how  many  are  to  come  in? 

On  the  other  hand,  there  may  be  no  natural  group  of 
girls,  already  drawn  together,  who  form  a  Club  nucleus. 
It  is  the  task  of  the  Club  Leader  and  the  Club  organizer 
to  find  those  girls  who  are  in  need  of  a  Club  and  who 
will,  if  brought  together,  make  a  happy  and  useful  one. 
What  must  a  Club  Leader  do  to  find  these  girls,  where 
no  organization  has  existed  before?  What  is  to  guide 
her  in  her  approach  ?  How  many  shall  she  invite  to  join 
the  Club? 

Fortunately,  these  questions — which  at  first  seem  so 
complex — have  been  carefully  considered  by  many  Club 
Leaders,  and  many  valuable  experiments  and  suggestions 
have  been  made  by  them. 

42 


THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  CLUB  43 

Forming  a  Natural  Group 

The  very  nature  of  a  Girls'  Club  calls  for  a  common 
bond  among  its  members,  a  united  spirit  of  good-fellow- 
ship and  cooperation,  and  a  friendly  interest  in  one 
another.  The  chief  object  of  a  Leader  at  the  outset  is 
to  form  a  Club  of  girls  who  will  so  enjoy  each  other's 
society  and  who  will  work  or  play  so  harmoniously  to- 
gether that  they  will  voluntarily  attend  the  Club  meetings 
regularly  and  enter  into  its  activities  enthusiastically. 

There  are,  then,  certain  natural  and  common  bonds  of 
interest  which  Club  Leaders  have  recognized  as  valuable 
in  starting  a  Club.  Girls  of  the  same  age,  in  the  same 
neighborhood,  in  the  same  grade  or  in  the  same  High 
School  year,  in  the  same  church,  in  the  same  business 
house  or  line  of  business — these  have  already  existing 
ties  which  can  be  used  to  advantage  in  organizing  a 
Club.  Naturally  much  depends  on  the  individual  girl, 
when  we  consider  the  question  of  her  congeniality  in  a 
certain  Club;  still  a  Club  of  girls  at  the  same  age  is 
more  likely  to  have  common  interests  than  is  a  Club 
with  both  twelve-year-old  girls  and  twenty-five-year-old 
girls  as  members. — Girls  in  the  same  neighborhood  can 
come  together  easily  and  frequently:  the  Club  meetings 
do  not  take  them  to  remote  parts  of  the  city ;  its  activities 
can  become  a  matter  of  interest  to  their  neighborhood 
and  therefore  seem  of  more  importance  to  all. — Girls  in 
the  same  grade  or  school  have  had  an  opportunity  to 
know  each  other  well  and  have,  in  all  probability,  already 
formed  a  common  bond  of  interest. — Girls  in  the  same 
church  are  united  in  their  religious  life,  a  tie  which 
with  many  is  the  strongest  tie  of  all;  Club  activities  in 


44  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

a  church  are  often  the  means  of  binding  the  girls  to  what 
is  already  a  strong  impulse  in  their  lives. 

Girls  who  have  gone  to  work  have  the  common  in- 
terest of  being  wage-earners;  they  enjoy  contact  with 
others  who  have  taken  the  same  step.  The  Industrial 
Girls'  Clubs  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  have  been  organized 
among  the  girls  of  the  United  States  in  Industry,  and 
are  constantly  increasing  in  numbers  and  -popularity. 
The  girls  come  to  the  factory  every  day.  Their  contact 
with  one  another  has  given  them  common  interests,  just 
as  contact  in  the  schools  unites  school  girls,  and  the 
formation  of  a  Club  within  a  business  organization  is 
a  natural  development.  Business  Girls'  Clubs  have 
been  successful  in  many  places.  They  are  open,  for  the 
most  part,  to  ambitious  business  girls  in  the  community 
where  the  Club  exists.  The  young  women  enjoy  con- 
tact with  other  alert  minds,  other  young  women  who 
are  daily  meeting  the  same  problems  but  who  may  sug- 
gest new  solutions. 

These  already  existing  bonds  of  age,  of  locality  and 
of  occupation  have  been  successfully  used  by  many 
Leaders  in  the  organization  of  their  Clubs.  A  word  of 
caution,  however,  comes  to  us  from  thoughtful  Leaders 
who  believe  that  a  democratic  atmosphere  is  not  always 
created  by  emphasizing — through  the  Club  organization 
— the  divisions  which  have  already  been  made  among 
the  girls.  "A  Club  Leader  should  be  careful  to  avoid 
stratification,"  a  well-known  social  worker  once  remarked. 
"What  right  have  we  to  say  that  telephone  operators 
will  be  friends  because  they  are  telephone  operators? 
Or  factory  girls?  Or  salesgirls?  Or  Irish  girls?  Or 
Italian  girls?  Organizers  too  often  insist  upon  follow- 


THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  CLUB  45 

College  Settlement 

95  RIVINGTON  STREET 

CLUB  APPLICATION 

Name  of  club 

Date  of  organization  Number  of  members 

Average  age  No.  in  school  No.  at  work 

Object  of  club 

On  what  day  does  it  wish  to  meet  at  what  time 

Where  has  the  club  been  meeting 

Why  did  it  leave 

Has  the  club  or  have  any  of  its  members  ever  been  connected 

with  any  other  Settlement  or  Recreation  Center  If  so, 

what  has  the  connection  been 

Name  of  Responsible  Officer 
Address 

PRESENT  MEMBERSHIP  LIST 
Name       Address       Age  Name       Addrtss        Age 


Application          Approved  for  College  Settlement 

Rejected  on  account 


46  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

ing  these  divisions,  forgetting  the  advantages  which 
come  in  rubbing  up  against  people  with  other  ideas,  with 
other  viewpoints.  A  broader  sympathy  comes,  too,  when 
a  Club  is  the  forum  for  the  interchange  of  many  varying 
ideas.  A  girl  is  trained  in  a  valuable  way  when  she 
comes  to  know  what  girls  of  another  kind  are  thinking, 
and  when  she  learns  to  like  them  and  to  sympathize 
with  them."  This  precaution,  given  by  a  woman  of  wide 
experience,  shows  the  Club  organizer  where  to  be  on 
her  guard.  Of  its  Industrial  Clubs,  the  Young  Women's 
Christian  Association  says :  "A  word  of  caution  against 
the  danger  of  unconsciously  emphasizing  class  distinc- 
tion may  not  be  amiss.  We  must  not  consider  all  the 
relationships  of  a  girl's  life  as  peculiar  to  her  mode  of 
employment.  Human  nature  is  the  same  anywhere.  We 
believe  that  by  approaching  girls  in  their  occupational 
groupings  we  can  reach  a  much  greater  number  than 
through  ordinary  methods,  but  we  should  be  careful  not 
to  allow  methods  to  define  a  line  of  distinction  which 
would  be  opposed  to  the  essential  principle  of  democracy 
in  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Association."  If  the 
existing  divisions  of  society — age,  locality,  religion,  na- 
tionality, occupation — allow  for  sufficient  variety  in  the 
Club  membership  and  sufficient  possibility  for  congenial- 
ity, well  and  good.  The  Leader  may  then  enter  into 
her  work  of  creating  Club  spirit  among  the  chosen 
group,  knowing  that  the  varying  ideas  of  the  girls  will 
keep  the  Club  live  and  progressive. 


tTHE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  CLUB  47 

Congeniality 

Whoever  the  girls  in  a  Club  are  and  whatever  they 
are  doing,  a  spirit  of  congeniality  pervades  the  successful 
Club.  "One  of  the  aims  of  Camp  Fire,"  says  the  Camp 
Fire  Girls'  Manual,  "is  to  cultivate  intimate  and  lasting 
friendships.  Congeniality  is  therefore  essential.  The 
girls  must  meet  on  terms  of  equality  and  the  spirit  must 
be  absolutely  democratic.  The  group  should  consist  of 
a  guardian  and  girls  who  would  naturally  be  drawn  to- 
gether and  choose  one  another  as  companions  and 
friends." 

When  a  group  of  girls  goes  to  a  Settlement  House 
and  asks  to  be  admitted  as  a  Club,  the  House  Head 
knows  that  those  girls  are  likely  to  be  an  excellent 
nucleus  for  a  Club.  They  have  come  together  naturally 
and  of  their  own  accord  and  have  asked  to  be  organized. 
This  is  a  start  in  their  Club  life  which  the  Settlement 
recognizes  as  valuable. 

The  problem  of  getting  together  a  congenial  group  of 
girls  is  not  always  so  simple.  Far  more  often  it  is  the 
work  of  the  Club  organizer  to  hunt  for  the  girls  and  to 
arouse  in  them  the  desire  for  organization.  A  study  of 
the  girls  where  she  is  to  work  will  often  give  the  Leader 
the  necessary  clue.  One  worker  in  a  large  store  noticed 
that  a  number  of  her  girls  were  getting  together  in  a 
corner  of  the  rest  room  to  read  aloud.  No  one  had 
suggested  their  doing  it:  they  met  because  they  enjoyed 
reading.  One  day,  the  Leader  joined  the  group  and 
asked:  "Girls,  why  don't  you  start  a  Literary  Club? 
It  would  be  fun,  I  know,  to  get  other  girls  who  like  to 
read,  and  all  of  you  read  interesting  books.  You  would 


48  GIRLS'  CLUBS' 

all  learn  more,  too.'*  The  suggestion  met  with  instant 
approval.  A  flourishing  Literary  Club  was  the  result 
of  this  Leader's  wisdom  in  seeing  that  she  already  had 
a  valuable  group  with  whom  to  work. 

Going  After  the  Girls 

Chance  opportunities  for  acquaintance  often  lead  to 
the  development  of  a  Club.  One  or  two  young  girls  may 
have  been  lingering  about  a  Settlement.  The  Settlement 
Leader  talks  with  them  and  suggests  that  they  bring 
their  friends  and  start  a  Club.  Several  young  girls  may 
be  lunching  regularly  in  a  Y.  W.  C.  A.  cafeteria.  The 
Secretary  suggests  to  a  Club  Leader  that  they  may  be 
interested  in  forming  a  Club.  She  gets  acquainted  with 
them,  and  often  they  respond  to  her  plan,  suggesting 
others  who  will  be  interested.  Those  others  may  then 
bring  their  friendi  until  enough  girls  have  been  gathered 
together.  The  vital  interest  of  one  or  two  girls  has  often 
made  possible  the  organizing  of  a  Club.  Some  Clubs 
have  been  launched  by  holding  a  party  or  rally  for  the 
girls  among  whom  a  Club  has  seemed  desirable.  In 
the  course  of  the  evening,  the  plan  has  been  proposed 
and  those  girls  enrolled  who  seem  interested.  This  in- 
terest, even  from  a  few,  followed  by  personal  work  on 
the  part  of  the  Leader  and  the  interested  girls,  has  often 
given  the  needed  start  to  a  Club. 

The  managers  of  a  New  Jersey  factory  wished  to 
have  a  Girls'  Club  among  their  employees.  Several  Club 
organizers  had  unsuccessfully  tried  to  interest  the  girls 
by  talking  to  them  about  the  plan.  Two  Club  Leaders 
then  volunteered  their  services.  Posters  announced  a 


THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  CLUB  49 

"Stunt  Party"  during  a  certain  lunch  hour.  This 
aroused  the  curiosity  of  the  girls.  They  came  in  large 
numbers  to  see  what  a  "Stunt  Party"  was.  They  learned ! 
The  two  Club  Leaders,  who  were  college  graduates,  gave 
every  "stunt"  of  their  college  days.  The  girls  laughed 
and  received  them  as  friends.  When  the  Leaders  an- 
nounced that  they  would  come  regularly  for  a  program, 
the  girls  clapped  delightedly.  As  the  factory  girls  were 
leaving,  a  number  came  to  the  Leaders  and  talked  with 
them.  The  Leaders  were  careful  to  take  their  names. 
These  specially  interested  ones  were,  later,  the  charter 
members  of  the  Club,  and  in  it  was  afterward  done 
work  much  more  vital  than  mere  "stunts!"  The  latter, 
however,  had  been  the  opening  wedge. 

The  following  suggestions,  given  in  the  Y.  W.  C.  A. 
pamphlet  called  "Eight-week  Clubs"  are  helpful  to  Club 
Leaders,  especially  those  in  a  smaller  community.  These 
"Eight-week  Clubs"  have  been  organized  by  the  Y.  W. 
C.  A.  as  a  means  of  gathering  girls  together  during  va- 
cation. The  summer,  when  college  and  school  girls  are 
at  home,  is  just  the  time  to  put  them  at  work  organizing 
Girls'  Clubs  among  the  girls  of  their  home  neighborhood. 
The  plan  outlined  has  already  been  tried  in  many  com- 
munities. "In  the  country  or  in  small  towns  where  there 
will  be  one  group  of  girls  and  a  Leader,  the  first  step 
is  for  the  Leader  to  invite  all  the  girls  of  the  neighbor- 
hood to  her  home  for  a  party  or  a  picnic.  Invite  each 
girl  personally,  either  by  seeing  her  or  by  a  written 
invitation.  Make  the  invitation  attractive.  A  general 
invitation  at  Sunday-School  or  over  the  telephone  is  not 
enough.  A  rhyme,  or  the  promise  of  a  surprise,  or 
anything  in  the  invitation  that  makes  the  girls  see  that 


So  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

you  are  really  putting  yourself  into  it,  that  they  will  have 
a  good  time  if  they  come,  and  that  you  want  each  of 
them  personally,  will  surely  bring  them.  Before  the 
party,  talk  over  the  plan  for  a  summer  Club  with  the 
mothers  and  with  a  few  of  the  girls  who  are  most  in- 
fluential with  the  others.  Ask  these  girls  to  be  ready 
to  help  get  things  started  by  speaking  for  it  when  the 
time  comes." 

Possible  ways  of  forming  Clubs  among  immigrant  girls 
have  also  been  suggested  by  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  in  "Eight- 
week  Clubs  for  Immigrant  Girls — an  International 
Friendship  Club."  The  means  taken  to  extend  real 
friendliness  to  these  foreign  girls  are  helpful  in  other 
lines  of  Club  work.  "Any  Leader  intending  to  gather 
any  kind  of  Club  has  to  begin  by  securing  the  interested 
understanding  of  some  one  person  first.  For  that  first 
foreign  girl  choose  whomsoever  you  can  get  acquainted 
with  most  easily.  Maybe  you  have  heard  of  some 
foreign  woman  who  works  near  you,  or  of  several  girls 
who  work  in  one  place.  Or  perhaps  there  is  a  family 
at  the  end  of  your  street,  or  a  farm  over  there  to  which 
a  foreign  family  have  come.  You  may  be  sure  they  are 
lonely  and  need  friends.  Take  advantage  of  any  simple 
excuse  that  occurs  to  you  to  go  by  and  smile  at  your 
'neighbor/  and  then  go  and  call,  ostensibly  to  inquire 
about  something  which  would  make  a  natural  subject  of 
conversation  for  that  locality.  Any  girl  with  a  little 
imagination  can  devise  ways  of  getting  acquainted  with 
some  other  girl.  When  you  have  made  the  acquaintance, 
quite  simply  and  naturally,  of  one  girl,  so  that  she  has 
come  to  look  upon  you  as  a  friend,  and  when  you  have 
told  her  about  the  Eight-week  Clubs  and  how  the  Ameri- 


THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  CLUB  51 

can  girls  enjoy  belonging  to  such  Clubs,  and  when  you 
have  made  her  understand  what  your  idea  is  about  the 
International  Friendship  Club,  ask  her  if  she  has  ever 
heard  of  one  before.  Ask  her  to  introduce  you  to  other 
foreign  girls  who  she  thinks  would  like  to  make  the 
summer  useful  by  learning  more  about  America,  by 
learning  how  to  do  something,  and  by  having  good  times. 
She  will  introduce  you  to  other  girls  who  might  like  to 
come." 

The  starting  of  a  Canning  Club  has  been  suggested 
in  "Wohelo,"  the  Camp  Fire  Girls'  Magazine.  "Start  a 
Canning  Club.  Get  the  mothers  and  daughters,  or  all 
the  daughters  and  one  of  the  mothers  of  your  neighbor- 
hood and  organize  a  Canning  Club.  Get  in  touch  with 
your  district  leader  and  ask  him  for  information  about 
the  Home  Canning  and  Drying  Clubs,  or  write  directly 
to  the  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture,  Washington, 
D.  C,  and  get  information  from  there." 

It  has  been  possible  to  organize  a  Club  by  bringing 
together  two  or  more  groups  of  girls,  who  have  been 
meeting  separately,,  with  the  result  that  more  has  been 
gained  by  the  girls  from  their  Club  life  and  more  work 
has  been  accomplished  by  them  in  their  Club  activities. 
A  Red  Cross  worker  in  the  middle  West  had  charge  of 
two  Red  Cross  groups,  both  small.  The  members  of 
one  were  recruited  from  a  nearby  restaurant.  The  mem- 
bers of  the  other  were  from  a  store.  It  occurred  to  her 
that  the  groups  could  be  united  into  a  splendid  Club. 
She  therefore  suggested  to  the  girls  that  they  meet  to- 
gether. Each  group  at  first  raised  objections:  they  did 
not  care  to  associate  with  the  others.  The  Leader,  feel- 
ing that  this  antagonism  was  radically  wrong,  worked 


52  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

earnestly  to  bring  the  two  groups  into  amicable  relation- 
ship At  last,  they  consented  to  have  a  meeting  together. 
It  was  stiff  and  formal,  but  a  few  of  the  more  cordial 
girls  got  acquainted  and  a  start  was  made.  The  Leader 
did  not  let  the  matter  drop  with  her  first  attempt.  A 
second  meeting  was  held.  Gradually  the  girls  got  to 
know  each  other  and  at  last  thoroughly  enjoyed  coming 
together.  The  desired  Club  was  formed  and  the  Leader 
rightly  felt  that  she  had  contributed  to  the  enlarging  of 
their  sympathies  and  understanding. 

Such  plans  as  these,  which  have  already  been  put  into 
practise  in  Club  work,  show  that  it  is  not  necessary  for 
a  Club  organizer  to  wait  until  girls  ask  for  a  Club. 
Leaders  can  go  to  the  girls,  interesting  them  in  the  idea 
and  creating  a  desire  where  none  has  existed  before. 

How  Large  Shall  the  Club  Be? 

The  membership  policy  of  a  Club  should  fit  the  par- 
ticular situation  in  which  the  Club  is  placed.  The  num- 
ber to  be  admitted  will  depend  upon  the  purpose  of 
the  Club.  The  small  Club  unit  is  undoubtedly  best 
adapted  to  personal  work.  The  Camp  Fire  organization 
limits  the  number  of  a  single  Camp  Fire  group  to  not 
fewer  than  six  nor  more  than  twenty  members.  The 
Girl  Scouts  base  their  unit  upon  a  Troop,  consisting  of 
two  or  more  patrols,  with  eight  girls  in  each  patrol. 
The  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  in  speaking  of  its  Eight-week  Clubs, 
says:  "Since  it  is  better  to  establish  a  real  friendship 
with  three  girls  than  an  impersonal  acquaintance  with 
a  dozen,  a  Club  should  have  from  three  to  ten  girls  in 
it."  The  Woodcraft  Girls  of  the  Woodcraft  League  base 


THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  CLUB  53 

their  organization  upon  bands  of  not  fewer  than  five 
nor  more  than  ten  members. 

These  limitations  in  number,  drawn  up  by  wise  and 
experienced  workers  among  girls,  show  a  recognition  of 
the  fact  that  one  Leader  cannot  give  thorough,  helpful, 
and  intensive  guidance  to  a  large  number  of  girls.  They 
and  she  have  many  other  interests  in  life  beside  the 
Club  work  and  it  is  physically  impossible  for  a  Leader 
to  accomplish  in  a  personal  way  for  a  large  number  of 
girls  what  she  can  for  a  small  group.  In  a  large  Club 
she  cannot  come  to  know  intimately  all  her  Club  mem- 
bers, no  matter  how  zealous  she  is.  She  cannot,  there- 
fore, exert  an  intelligent  influence  upon  the  solving  of 
their  problems  because  she  cannot  find  the  opportunity 
to  learn  what  those  problems  are.  It  is  impossible  to 
obtain  the  spirit  of  intimacy  in  Club  meetings  when  the 
number  is  large.  If,  then,  a  Club  Leader  feels  that  the 
usefulness  of  her  efforts  will  depend  upon  keeping  a 
small  unit,  she  will  find  it  helpful  to  encourage  the  in- 
serting of  a  clause  in  the  Club  constitution  definitely 
limiting  the  number.  If  the  group  is  affiliated  with  the 
Girl  Scouts  or  other  national  organization,  the  rules  of 
that  organization  will  automatically  regulate  the  number. 
In  the  independent  group,  the  girls  can  readily  be  made 
to  see  the  advantage  of  the  smaller  number. 

There  are,  however,  certain  circumstances  in  which 
organizing  a  small  Club  unit  is  unwise  and  soon  becomes 
a  barrier  to  future  necessary  growth.  In  a  small  town, 
for  example,  it  is  often  a  great  advantage  to  have  one 
large  organization  to  which  any  girl  may  belong.  This 
larger  organization  may  then  offer  special  attractions 
such  as  basketbal^book  clubs,  or  classes  in  which  the 


54  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

girls  enjoy  their  own  kind  of  activity.  But  binding  them 
all  together  is  the  larger  organization  which  makes  for 
unity  and  not  separation.  In  Bennington,  Vermont,  the 
girls  have  been  united  in  this  way  under  the  Public  Wel- 
fare Association :  all  smaller  Girls'  Clubs,  whether  Camp 
Fire,  Garden,  or  Athletic  Clubs,  are  under  the  super- 
vision of  one  director,  employed  by  the  Association. 

An  organization  among  the  women  and  girls  in  a  large 
store  or  a  factory,  which  has  as  its  aim  the  helping  of 
the  girls  there  employed,  will  of  necessity  open  its  doors 
to  all.  In  such  a  case,  from  the  outset  no  barriers  are 
erected.  Every  girl  is  welcome  to  come  in.  And  the 
Club  is  free  to  extend  its  influence  throughout  the  whole 
business  house.  It  is  also  entirely  possible,  in  a  Club 
of  this  kind,  to  combine  these  democratic  advantages  of 
the  larger  organization  with  those  of  the  smaller  units. 
The  Club  itself  is  open  to  all  who  wish  to  join.  Many 
privileges  of  Club  membership  are  open  to  all,  the  use 
of  the  Club  rooms  and  equipment,  the  library,  and  other 
general  activities  in  which  the  Club  engages.  In  addition 
to  these,  there  may  be  sub-groups,  or  smaller  units, 
through  which  the  direct  personal  work  is  accomplished. 
In  the  John  Wanamaker  Store,  New  York,  this  plan  of 
Club  organization  has  been  successfully  tried  as  follows : 
Any  girl  or  woman  in  the  Store  may  belong  to  the  Look- 
ing Forward  Club,  upon  payment  of  the  dues.  Within 
the  Club  there  are  lunch-hour  Clubs  for  the  messenger 
girls,  the  inspectresses,  and  other  special  groups.  There 
are  lunch-hour  dancing  classes  for  younger  girls  and 
for  older  girls,  with  a  careful  distinction  made  between 
the  two.  There  are  lunch-hour  Current  Events  and  Dress- 
making classes  for  the  older  girls,  and  evening  classes 


THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  CLUB  55 

of  many  kinds  for  the  more  mature  members.  Such  an 
organization  of  Club  activities  has  combined  the  benefits 
of  the  larger  Club  with  the  personal  contact  gained 
through  the  smaller  units.  Work  of  this  kind  calls  for 
the  service  of  several  Club  workers.  Necessarily  there 
must  be  one  who  supervises  the  whole  and  acts  as 
general  executive.  If  the  work  is  extensive  and  a  large 
number  of  girls  are  members  of  the  Club,  the  executive 
Leader  will  scarcely  be  able  to  undertake  the  leadership 
of  the  individual  group  Clubs.  Leaders  must  then  be 
secured  for  these,  either  from  within  or  from  without 
the  business  organization.  It  is  often  possible  for  the 
Club  Executive  in  a  large  business  house  to  secure  for 
her  smaller  groups  the  volunteer  services  of  a  talented 
fellow-employee,  willing  to  give  of  her  free  time  to  help 
the  girls. 

Coordinating  the  Club  with  the  Business 

In  a  business  house,  the  actual  lines  of  the  business 
organization  give  a  splendid  means  for  Club  develop- 
ment. Group  Clubs,  organized  within  the  separate  de- 
partments, have  proved  advantageous  and  helpful.  In 
a  factory  one  Club  worker  followed  this  plan.  Each 
group  Club  was  open  to  those  girls  who  were  in  the  de- 
partment where  the  group  was  organized.  The  Clubs  thus 
formed  eventually  decided  upon  the  same  lines  of  activity. 
They  met  at  different  times,  however,  and  each  was  a 
complete  organization  in  itself.  Friendly  intercourse 
soon  sprang  up  and  was  a  great  incentive  to  further 
endeavor.  The  climax  of  the  year's  program  was  an 
Inter-Club  social  evening,  with  invited  guests  and  judges 


56  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

to  decide  which  Club  had  attained  the  greatest  degree 
of  excellence  in  its  singing,  drills,  dancing,  and  in  the 
conduct  of  a  model  business  meeting.  Each  Club  (or 
Factory  Department,  as  it  was  in  reality)  had  as  special 
guest  of  the  evening  its  own  business  head.  The  songs 
and  cheers  frequently  mentioned  all  the  heads.  The 
latter  entered  into  the  spirit  of  the  occasion  and  the 
whole  affair  was  a  most  successful  "get-together"  party. 
Friendliness  and  mutual  understanding  were  fostered,  as 
was  shown  by  a  remark  of  one  of  the  Club  girls:  "I 
always  thought  our  Chief  was  an  ogre,"  she  said,  "but 
now  I  know  he's  very  friendly  underneath."  The  de- 
partment heads  were  delighted  with  the  esprit  de  corps 
which  the  Club  organizer  had  developed  in  the  girls. 
They  offered  their  active  cooperation  to  her  and  made 
it  possible  for  her  to  do  more  extended  work.  When 
new  girls  were  employed,  the  Chiefs  sent  them  to  her 
as  part  of  their  first  day's  work.  And  where  the  Leader 
had  formerly  been  forced  to  hunt  for  the  new  girls,  now 
they  came  to  her,  sent  by  the  department  heads,  who 
were  convinced  that  her  work  was  a  helpful,  if  not  in- 
deed a  necessary  part  of  the  new  girl's  training.  Many 
business  houses  to-day  number  among  their  regular  paid 
employees  a  Club  Secretary  whose  function  is  the  super- 
vision of  just  such  an  organization. 

The  Age  Question 

There  is  one  problem  of  Club  membership  which 
always  looms  large  upon  every  Leader's  horizon — the 
age  question.  Every  Leader  who  has  had  experience 
in  grouping  a  large  number  of  girls  knows  that  certain 


THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  CLUB  57 

natural  divisions  seem  to  occur  among  them,  based 
largely  upon  their  ages,  and  that  successful  Club  work 
must  recognize  those  divisions.  Recognition  of  these 
natural  boundaries  of  age  has  been  made  by  the  national 
girls'  organizations  in  their  rules  of  admission.  The  Girl 
Scouts  set  the  minimum  age  for  membership  at  ten  years. 
The  Camp  Fire  Girls  do  not  allow  girls  to  come  into 
their  organization  until  they  are  twelve,  although  they 
provide  a  "Blue  Bird"  organization  for  younger  girls 
from  six  to  twelve  years  of  age.  The  Woodcraft  girls 
of  the  Woodcraft  League  fix  the  age  of  admission  at 
twelve  years.  The  Girls'  Friendly  Society  in  America 
has  the  same  regulation. 

Where  a  girl  is  more  than  ten  or  twelve  years  old, 
the  stage  which  she  has  reached  in  her  personal  develop- 
ment is  often  a  more  important  consideration  than  the 
exact  number  of  years  in  her  age.  The  most  important 
fact  is  her  congeniality  with  the  proposed  group  and  her 
willingness  to  work  in  harmony  with  them.  If,  however,  a 
Club  of  Girls  is  of  approximately  the  same  age,  that  Club 
is  likely  to  develop  at  about  the  same  rate  of  progress, 
and  the  Club  as  a  whole  will  go  forward  together.  The 
Girl  Scouts  say  that  "girls  in  a  Patrol  should  be  from 
ten  to  seventeen  years  of  age."  In  the  West  Side  Y.  W. 
C.  A.,  New  York  City,  the  "Junior  Clubs"  are  made  up 
of  girls  from  twelve  to  sixteen  years  of  age.  The  Clubs 
with  members  over  sixteen  years  are  called  "Senior" 
Clubs.  Clubs  are  promoted  together  from  the  Junior 
to  the  Senior  grade  and  their  Leader  goes  on  with  them. 
In  Hull  House,  the  Junior  Clubs  are  girls  from  four- 
teen to  seventeen  years  of  age  and  the  Senior  Clubs  are 
made  up  of  girls  over  seventeen.  The  reason  given  for 


58  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

such  a  division  is  found  in  a  Hull  House  report.  "It 
was  found  that  interest  and  spirit  at  inter-Club  parties 
was  stimulated  by  a  division  which  made  possible  en- 
tertainment suited  to  one  general  age.  Regulation  re- 
garding the  lateness  of  meetings  and  parties  is  more 
readily  made  upon  this  basis.  The  committee  on  renting 
rooms  makes  this  division  a  basis  for  variation  in  rents/' 

If,  on  organizing  a  Club,  a  Leader  finds  that  one  or 
two  of  the  girls  are  scoffing  at  the  work  which  the 
majority  enjoy  and  are  calling  it  "babyish,"  she  may 
quietly  suggest  to  those  girls  that  they  would  more 
thoroughly  enjoy  another  kind  of  Club  work. 

"I  never  try  to  force  interest  from  those  who  feel  that 
they  have  grown  beyond  my  Club's  activities,"  once  re- 
marked a  Club  Leader  from  the  West,  "but  if  I  cannot 
give  them  what  they  want,  I  do  try  to  suggest  definitely 
to  the  restless  ones  where  they  will  be  able  to  find  what 
will  interest  them." 

After  a  Club  has  been  gathered  together  and  the  mem- 
bers themselves  are  at  work  upon  their  constitution,  the 
general  discussion  concerning  the  clauses  on  membership 
will  show  the  Leader  what  her  girls  wish  in  regard  to 
the  matter.  The  following  clause  was  taken  from  the 
Dolly  Madison  Club  constitution,  College  Settlement, 
New  York  City:  "Any  girl  applying  for  membership 
shall  be  at  least  thirteen  years  old  and  in  the  eighth 
grade  of  elementary  school."  Through  the  following 
clause  another  Club  was  able  to  keep  the  new  members 
within  the  range  of  age  of  the  original  members :  "Any 
girl  not  younger  than  the  youngest  nor  older  than  the 
oldest  may  be  proposed  for  membership."  In  business 
girls'  Clubs  a  minimum  age  is  often  set  at  twenty  years. 


THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  CLUB  $9 

This  regulation  makes  the  appeal  of  the  Club  definitely 
to  the  older  girls. 

It  has  been  found  best  in  Girls'  Clubs  to  have  a 
definite  policy  regarding  the  membership,  any  change 
from  which  must  be  voted  upon  by  the  girls  themselves. 
This  is  especially  true  in  smaller  groups.  One  Club 
Leader,  who  is  now  a  firm  believer  in  having  a  definite 
membership  policy,  once  told  how  she  was  won  from 
the  "bring  any  and  everyone"  plan.  She  had  gotten 
together  an  interested  group  of  young  girls  about  eighteen 
years  of  age.  They  had  progressed  happily  together 
for  some  weeks,  when  one  of  the  members  asked  per- 
mission to  bring  her  twelve-year-old  sister.  The  Leader, 
glad  to  have  the  girl  so  interested  and  thinking  not  at 
all  of  possible  results,  cordially  invited  the  younger 
sister  to  come.  It  did  not  occur  to  her,  at  the  time,  to 
submit  the  matter  to  the  Club  for  decision.  So  the 
twelve-year-old  came  to  the  Club.  In  the  course  of  a 
few  weeks,  another  member  asked  whether  she  might 
bring  her  younger  sister,  and  because  the  Leader  had 
given  permission  to  one  she  was  forced,  in  all  fairness,  to 
grant  the  same  to  the  second  girl.  It  so  happened  that 
soon  a  third  younger  sister  joined  the  group.  About 
this  time,  the  Leader  noticed  that  some  of  those  who 
had  hitherto  been  numbered  among  the  faithful  were 
dropping  out.  She  investigated  and  discovered  that  the 
girls  no  longer  cared  for  the  Club  because  "there  are 
a  lot  of  babies  in  it  now!"  She  laid  the  matter  before 
the  Club  with  the  result  that  the  younger  sisters  were 
voted  out.  In  order  to  save  the  life  of  the  Club,  the 
Leader  was  then  confronted  with  the  painful  necessity 
of  telling  the  three  members  that  they  could  no  longer 


60  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

do  what  she  had  so  cordially  invited  them  to  do.  They 
departed,  accompanied  by  the  younger  sisters,  all  highly 
indignant,  and  could  never  be  induced  to  return.  This 
experience,  which  threatened  to  disrupt  a  flourishing 
organization,  taught  her  the  wisdom  of  having  a  fixed 
policy,  departure  from  which  should  be  made  only  by 
the  expressed  wish  of  the  Club. 

Once  the  membership  rules  have  been  made,  it  is 
possible  for  the  Club  members  to  change  them  at  their 
own  discretion.  A  very  successful  reading  Club  once 
met  under  a  Leader's  personal  direction.  It  was  open 
to  girls  over  twenty-one,  and  its  members  prided  them- 
selves upon  their  work.  A  younger  girl  came  to  the 
Leader  and  asked  whether  she  might  join  the  Club. 
The  Leader  felt  sure  that  the  spirit  of  the  Club  would 
be  harmed  by  the  admission  of  any  younger  girls.  So 
she  refused.  The  great  disappointment  which  the  refusal 
brought  led  the  Leader  to  consult  the  Club  members 
about  it.  The  Club  said  "they  didn't  mind"  this  girl, 
but  if  any  others  wanted  to  come  in,  she  would  have 
to  go.  The  Leader  then  admitted  the  girl.  What  was 
the  result?  The  younger  girl  was  so  pleased  over  being 
in  the  Club  that  she  diligently  read  all  the  books  sug- 
gested. The  older  girls,  seeing  her  achievement,  re- 
doubled their  own  efforts.  When  three  more  of  the 
younger  girls  desired  to  come  in,  the  Club  Leader 
promptly  started  a  reading  Club  for  the  younger  girls, 
the  first  young  member  of  the  original  Club  to  act  as 
head.  This  is  an  illustration  of  a  case  in  which  a  wise 
breaking  of  precedent  led  to  the  development  of  an 
individual  and,  ultimately,  to  an  extension  of  the  Club 
work. 


THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  CLUB  61 

In  a  Club  of  young  girls  in  New  York  City,  the  sister 
of  one  of  the  members  was  proposed  for  membership, 
to  be  voted  upon  at  the  next  meeting.  So  certain  was 
the  sister  of  being  elected  that  she  came  to  the  meeting 
and  waited  outside  the  door.  For  personal  reasons,  she 
was  not  voted  into  the  Club.  The  Leader  felt  that  the 
girls  were  making  a  mistake,  as  the  sister  would,  she 
knew,  make  a  good  Club  member.  However,  she  left  the 
matter  entirely  in  her  girls'  hands.  The  sister  who  was 
the  Club  member  burst  into  tears.  She  went  out  to  tell 
the  other,  and  they  both  wept.  The  Club  members  were 
so  touched  that  they  at  once  took  a  second  vote  and 
admitted  the  sister.  Had  the  Leader  insisted  upon  the 
admission  of  the  new  girl,  there  would  have  been  dis- 
sension in  the  ranks.  As  it  was,  the  girls  happily  de- 
cided the  matter  for  themselves. 

Voting  upon  New  Members 

In  Clubs  where  the  membership  is  limited  in  any  way, 
the  membership  regulations  ( in  most  cases  state  that  new 
members  must  be  proposed  by  a  Club  member  in  good 
and  regular  standing.  The  number  of  "black  balls"  or 
unfavorable  votes  upon  the  candidate  necessary  to  ex- 
clude her  from  membership  varies.  In  some  smaller 
Clubs,  three  dissenting  votes  out  of  ten  will  keep  a  girl 
out.  In  others,  five  out  of  twelve  are  necessary.  In 
others,  a  favorable  vote  of  two- thirds  of  the  members 
is  required.  The  importance  of  the  number  stated  de- 
pends upon  the  size  of  the  Club.  In  a  very  small  Club, 
the  emphatic  objection  of  even  two  members  to  the  girl 
proposed  might  be  sufficient  to  bar  her.  For  if  she  were 


62  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

admitted  over  these  objections,  the  harmonious  spirit 
might  be  destroyed.  If  a  Leader  is  convinced  that  a 
certain  girl  should  come  in,  and  some  of  the  Club  mem- 
bers object  to  her,  it  is  often  possible  to  tactfully  win 
over  the  dissenting  ones  to  a  friendly  attitude  toward 
the  girl  and  a  willingness  to  have  her  among  them. 

Some  Clubs  do  not  take  their  first  vote  upon  a  girl 
until  she  has  been  present  at  several  Club  meetings. 
First,  her  name  is  proposed.  Then  she  attends  the 
meetings  for  two  or  three  weeks.  Then  the  final  voting 
takes  place,  at  a  meeting  at  which  she  is  not  present. 
This  plan  was  definitely  outlined  by  delegates  to  an 
Industrial  Girls'  Conference  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  The 
Club  girls  themselves  stated  that  "it  is  best  that  pros- 
pective members  visit  two  or  three  meetings  in  order 
to  become  acquainted  with  what  the  Club  stands  for; 
that  names  be  presented  first  to  the  executive  committee 
of  the  Club,  to  be  discussed;  that  the  executive  com- 
mittee present  the  names  through  the  chairman  of  the 
membership  committee  at  a  regular  business  meeting  of 
the  Club;  and  that  names  be  voted  upon  by  the  Club 
members." 

Another  plan  which  has  been  tried  is  that  of  proba- 
tion. A  girl  is  proposed  at  one  meeting  and  voted  upon 
at  the  next.  This  is  not  the  final  voting,  however.  In 
a  month,  two  months,  or  six  months  (whatever  time  the 
Club  has  set),  she  is  voted  upon  again.  Thus  she  has 
been  in  the  Club  life  sufficiently  long  to  enable  the 
members  to  get  thoroughly  acquainted  with  her.  Their 
final  vote  is  cast  when  they  know  her  and  how  she  will 
fit  into  the  Club. 


THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  CLUB  63 

Forfeiting  Membership  in  a  Club 

Shall  certain  courses  of  conduct  forfeit  a  girl's  mem- 
bership in  her  Club?  Many  Girls'  Clubs  feel  that  they 
should  and  have  included  in  their  constitutions  regula- 
tions concerning  such  possibilities.  Two  reasons  are 
very  generally  given  as  good  grounds  for  dropping  a 
girl's  name  from  the  Club  roll — continued  non-attendance 
and  non-payment  of  dues.  Absence  for  a  certain  number 
of  times  (three  times,  for  example)  without  good  excuse 
is  sometimes  made  the  cause  for  dropping  a  girl.  In 
some  Clubs,  where  such  a  regulation  is  enforced,  the 
members  are  safeguarded  by  the  granting  of  "leaves  of 
absence"  to  those  members  who  apply.  "Any  member 
in  good  financial  standing  may  be  granted  a  leave  of 
absence  by  a  three- fourths  vote"  is  the  provision  made 
by  one  Club.  The  payment  of  a  fine  is  also  sometimes 
required  for  "absence  without  excuse." 

In  addition  to  these  reasons  for  forfeiting  member- 
ship, the  situation  does  at  times  arise  when  a  Club 
member  is  no  longer  desirable.  The  Leader  has  ex- 
hausted every  effort  to  keep  her  in  the  Club  and  influence 
her  to  change  her  bad  habits.  The  girl  remains  obdurate. 
Her  influence  is  bad  and  her  continued  presence  will 
work  havoc  with  the  Club  itself.  What,  then,  is  the 
Leader  to  do?  Where  the  members  themselves  no 
longer  wish  to  have  the  girl  among  them,  the  adjustment 
can  easily  be  made.  Action  on  the  part  of  the  Club 
members  is  most  effective.  But  if,  as  may  be,  the  Club 
is  divided  in  its  opinion  and  the  Leader  is  convinced 
that  the  girl's  removal  is  imperative,  other  swift  and  sure 
means  may  be  taken.  The  Leader  herself  may  have  a 


64  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

personal  talk  with  the  girl,  removing  her  from  member- 
ship. Or,  when  the  Club  meets  in  a  Settlement,  church, 
or  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  the  Leader  may  take  the  matter  to 
the  Director  or  the  minister  and  ask  him  to  assume  the 
duty  of  expelling  the  member.  'The  rules  of  the 
House"  often  forbid  the  presence  of  a  member  who  casts 
discredit  upon  it.  In  this  way  the  task  is  accomplished 
in  as  impersonal  a  way  as  possible. 

Although  expelling  a  girl  is  at  time  imperatively  nec- 
essary, before  taking  the  step  the  Leader  should  make 
sure  that  it  is  the  only  possible  action  for  the  good  of 
the  Club.  And  she  should  first  exhaust  every  means 
within  her  power  for  directing  the  energy  of  the  girl 
into  better  channels.  W.  R.  George,  of  the  George 
Junior  Republic,  has  said  that  it  does  not  matter  to  him 
if  a  girl  is  very  dishonest,  very  mean,  very  mischievous 
— if  she  is  only  very  something!  Then  he  knows  that 
she  has  the  capability  of  being  very  good,  if  she  will! 
A  Leader  in  Boston  once  said:  "It  is  sometimes  neces- 
sary to  remove  a  girl  from  a  Club.  I  do  not  hesitate 
to  do  it  when  it  is  necessary,  but  I  do  not  lose  hold  of 
the  girl  if  I  can  help  it.  She  may  be  the  one  who  needs 
me  most/' 

Enlarging  the  Membership 

When  a  Club  is  not  limited  in  the  number  of  its  mem- 
bers and  a  large  membership  is  desirable,  as  in  a  business 
house,  there  are  many  methods  of  adding  to  the  roll. 
In  some  cases  each  member  has  made  herself  responsible 
for  bringing  in  a  new  member.  "Membership  Contests" 
have  often  brought  in  the  desired  recruits.  In  general, 


U]      O 

So 


II 


I! 


•v-  i  ;/•  <'.•:'•.".'•:    :  /.  *'. 
'•'•*••   •«  ..i  /••.•..* 


THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  CLUB  65 

the  contest  plan  has  been  worked  out  as  follows:  Two 
teams,  made  up  of  energetic  members,  are  appointed 
and  named.  In  some  contests,  the  members  of  each  team 
have  consisted  of  one-half  of  the  Club.  Sometimes  the 
teams  are  named  from  the  Club  colors;  for  instance  if 
the  colors  are  red  and  white  there  is  a  Red  team  and 
a  White  team.  The  contest  starts  at  a  definite  date  and 
lasts  for  a  definite  length  of  time.  Any  special  regula- 
tions as  to  where  the  members  are  to  be  obtained  are 
clearly  stated  at  the  outset,  to  avoid  any  misunderstand- 
ings. Placards  announce  the  beginning  of  the  contest, 
and  a  regular  announcement  is  posted  in  a  conspicuous 
place,  telling  of  the  progress  of  the  teams  and  their 
relative  standing.  Where  interest  is  aroused  in  the  con- 
test idea,  the  girls  eagerly  watch  these  posters  and 
announcements.  One  Club  had  a  large  poster  drawn, 
with  a  picture  of  the  door  of  the  Club  House  in  the 
upper  left-hand  corner;  as  new  members  were  added, 
paper  figures  of  girls  were  pasted  on  the  poster,  repre- 
sented as  going  into  the  Club  House;  each  girl  standing 
for  twenty-five  new  members.  The  Club  colors  were 
red  and  yellow.  If  a  girl  was  cut  from  red  paper,  it 
meant  that  the  "reds"  had  secured  twenty-five  members, 
and  so  on.  A  group  of  Clubs  in  Trenton,  New  Jersey, 
had  a  unique  membership  contest  in  the  form  of  a 
Panama-Pacific  Exposition.  A  Club  representative  has 
described  their  contest.  "We  had  an  enormous  map 
of  the  United  States  drawn  and  put  upon  the  wall. 
Twenty  cities  were  marked  across  the  country,  via 
Federation  Highway  from  Trenton.  Each  Club  chose 
a  certain  make  of  automobile  and  pasted  a  picture  of 
it  on  cardboard  and  had  a  tiny  banner  flying  from  it. 


66 


GIRLS'  CLUBS 


The  autos  jumped  by  means  of  thumb  tacks  from  one 
city  to  another,  each  city  denoting  one  new  member. 
The  Club  which  got  to  San  Francisco  first  (signifying 
20  new  members)  won  the  contest." 

In  many  Clubs,  the  losing  side  in  such  a  membership 
contest  has  given  the  winners  a  party  or  banquet.  Such 
a  plan  gives  a  general  good  time  to  all,  regardless  of 
who  won  in  the  contest. 

When  a  large  contest  is  being  held,  it  is  helpful  to 
have  the  method  of  registering  new  members  as  simple 
as  possible.  One  simple  way  which  has  been  devised  is 
to  have  books  containing  membership  tickets  printed. 
Each  ticket  is  numbered  and  the  books  may  be  bound 
with  any  number  in  each.  The  girls  who  are  seeking 
members  take  the  books  and  are  responsible  for  all 
pages  intact  or  for  the  amount  of  the  Club  dues  for 
every  stub  which  has  been  torn  off.  When  books  of 
this  kind  are  used,  each  competing  member,  as  soon  as 
she  secures  a  new  recruit,  can  at  once  give  her  a  mem- 
bership ticket.  If  the  stubs  remaining  in  the  book  are 
of  card  catalog  size  they  may  be  filed  at  once,  and  the 
necessity  for  making  out  a  membership  book  is  eliminated. 
If  the  contest  member  wishes  to  return  some  of  the 
money  before  her  book  is  filled,  she  can  do  so,  and  the 
amount  can  be  recorded  on  the  cover  of  her  book  as  well 
as  in  the  Leader's  records. 


Contest  Member 


Book  No. 


Returns  Cash 


Returns  Book 


Record  Page  for  a  Contest. 


THE  MEMBERS  OP  THE  CLUB 


67 


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68  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

Welcoming  the  New  Members 

When  new  members  come  into  a  Club,  to  welcome 
them  with  some  special  function  or  ceremony  gives  the 
newcomers  a  feeling  of  cordial  good  fellowship  and 
often  causes  them  to  regard  their  membership  as  some- 
thing of  great  importance.  In  some  Clubs  a  short  cere- 
mony is  in  order,  carrying  in  it  the  symbolism  which 
many  girls  love.  In  Paterson,  New  Jersey,  a  Club 
president  always  addresses  the  new  Club  members  as 
follows : 

"The  name  of  our  Club  is  Chi  Tau  Upsilon — Come 
to  us;  or  in  other  words,  Come  and  join  us!  We  are 
joined  together  by  the  Father's  great  love  from  above. 
He  has  shown  us  the  sweetness  of  earthly  fellowship. 
May  we  ever  strive  to  share  this  fellowship  as  far  as 
we  are  able,  asking  others  to  join  us.  Our  great  purpose 
is  mutual  helpfulness.  We  desire  to  help  each  other  in 
every  possible  way,  and  we  shall  expect  you  to  do  the 
same.  May  the  Chi  Tau  Upsilon  Club  be  full  of  rich 
helpfulness  and  joy  to  you !" 

Club  girls  are  often  deeply  interested  in  devising  a 
little  ceremony  of  welcome  which  they  can  use  in  their 
"welcome"  parties. 

Shall  Boys  Be  Admitted  to  Membership? 

In  the  case  of  Clubs  of  younger  girls  (under  fourteen 
or  sixteen  years  of  age),  most  Leaders  feel  that  the 
work  is  best  carried  on  alone.  Among  older  girls  and 
boys,  Clubs  of  mixed  membership  have  been  successful ; 
as,  for  example,  in  Hull  House,  with  social  programs, 


THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  CLUB  69 

practise  in  parliamentary  law,  debates  and  other  activi- 
ties. Many  Leaders  feel  that  the  encouraging  of  whole- 
some boy-and-girl  friendships  is  part  of  a  Club's  task 
and  that  this  can  best  be  accomplished  by  actually  ad- 
mitting boys  to  membership. 

Other  Leaders  feel  that  it  is  better  to  maintain  separate 
organizations  for  the  girls,  introducing  the  social  inter- 
course through  frequent  parties,  dramatics,  debates,  and 
outings.  This  latter  plan  is  especially  successful  in 
Settlement  Houses  where  there  are  Clubs  for  boys  as 
well  as  for  girls.  The  Clubs  entertain  one  another, 
entering  into  friendly  rivalry  through  oratorical  or  other 
contests,  and  with  it  all  establish  a  wholesome  mutual 
regard  among  the  members  which  helps  them  when  they 
go  out  from  the  Settlement  to  meet  other  young  people. 

Keeping  Pace  with  the  Club  Members 

Every  Leader  recognizes  the  necessity  of  keeping  pace 
with  her  girls  in  their  development.  A  Club  composed 
of  girls  of  fourteen  years,  of  fifteen  years,  and  even  of 
sixteen  and  seventeen  years,  may  have  worked  amicably 
together  for  some  time,  when  suddenly  a  few  of  the 
members  seem  to  have  passed  a  mysterious  dividing- 
line  which  separates  them  from  their  chums  of  yesterday. 
It  is  now  evident  that  a  new  and  different  appeal  must 
be  made  if  the  Club  is  to  hold  their  interest.  In  such 
a  case  it  is  often  possible  for  a  Leader  so  to  adjust  the 
activities  of  the  Club  that  the  girls  are  kept  united  and 
happy.  In  this  way  the  members  grow  together.  We 
see  to-day,  in  some  of  our  Settlements,  Clubs  of  women* 
which  were  organized  when  the  members  were  much 
younger.  By  having  the  Club  life  follow  them  as  they 


70  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

grow,  the  girls  come  to  look  upon  it  as  an  integral  part 
of  their  life  interests. 

In  some  situations  a  series  of  Clubs  with  graded  ac- 
tivities has  helped  in  solving  the  problem  of  growing 
and  changing  girls.  The  girls  may  then  be  promoted 
from  one  Club  to  another.  Such  organization  is  possible 
where  new  and  younger  girls  are  constantly  available  to 
fill  in  the  places  of  those  who  have  been  advanced.  The 
graded  activities  give  an  opportunity  to  every  girl  to 
enjoy  what  appeals  to  her. 

One  Club  Leader  in  a  large  store  tried  the  following 
general  plan  of  organization  successfully.  The  mes- 
senger girls  of  the  store  were  organized  into  three  lunch- 
hour  Clubs  of  their  own.  No  one  who  was  not  in  that 
particular  service  of  the  store  was  eligible  for  member- 
ship in  these  Clubs.  As  the  girls  grew  older,  promotion 
in  their  store  positions  brought  corresponding  promotion 
in  their  Club  life  and  they  went  on  into  Clubs  organized 
for  the  older  girls.  When  they  had  reached  the  age  of 
eighteen  they  were  eligible  for  the  evening  groups  and 
could  take  up  the  most  advanced  work  with  the  oldest 
girls.  Such  lines  of  distinction  had  the  result  of  making 
each  group  of  girls  value  their  own  organization  as  some- 
thing which  was  peculiarly  their  own. 

Who  Shall  Decide  the  Membership  Policy? 

The  matter  of  membership  is  primarily  one  for  the 
members  themselves  to  act  upon.  Only  as  they  feel  that 
they  are  directing  the  Club  will  they  regard  it  as  their 
own  possession.  With  the  Leader  rests  the  privilege  of 
tactfully  suggesting  and  quietly  guiding  the  Club  to  wise 
decisions  regarding  membership. 


CHAPTER  IV 
THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  CLUB 

The  Value  of  Organization 

THERE  are  few  girls  who  are  not  fascinated  by  "be- 
longing to"  a  Club.  The  new  group,  now  interested  in 
the  idea  of  having  a  Club  with  a  name,  colors,  a  motto, 
a  pin,  and  all  the  other  things  which  a  real  Club  has, 
eagerly  enters  upon  the  task  of  organization.  What  such 
girls  do  not  always  realize  is  that  back  of  all  Club  life 
must  lie  the  definite  Club  organization,  holding  together 
all  their  activities  and  providing  that  all  these  shall  be 
done  with  regularity  and  in  order.  At  the  outset,  it 
will  be  the  task  of  the  Club  Leader  to  interest  her  girls 
in  planning  a  constitution,  electing  officers,  appointing 
the  necessary  committees,  and  holding  regular  business 
meetings.  Many  of  the  girls  have  overlooked  the  neces- 
sity for  this  kind  of  Club  work.  Some  may  even  object 
to  it.  They  think  that  they  have  gotten  together,  ready 
for  a  Club — now  for  the  good  times ! 

Yielding  to  this  natural  inclination  of  the  girls,  without 
insisting  upon  a  business-like  organization  for  the  Club, 
is  undoubtedly  following  the  path  of  least  resistance. 
But  the  wise  Club  Leader  will  tactfully  insist  upon  some 
definite  organization,  however  simple.  For  it  is  definite 
Club  organization  which  gives  to  the  girls  that  feeling 


72  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

of  responsibility  which  they  must  have  in  guiding  their 
activities.  It  would  be  entirely  possible  for  the  Leader 
to  plan  and  direct  the  work,  but  such  complete  direction 
would  take  from  the  girls  that  most  precious  Club  pos- 
session of  all — the  feeling  that  they  themselves  are  direct- 
ing the  Club.  Business  methods  in  Club  life  give  the 
girls  valuable  training  in  citizenship.  They  learn  what 
a  Constitution  is,  and  what  its  purpose.  They  learn  the 
value  of  order  and  dignity  in  a  meeting.  They  learn 
how  to  conduct  a  business  meeting,  and  what  steps  are 
necessary  to  accomplish  certain  work.  They  come  to 
know  the  value  of  committee  work ;  of  Club  records ;  of 
a  Club  budget.  The  Club  business  meeting  gives  the 
members  opportunity  to  express  their  opinions  upon  all 
Club  matters.  Objections  to  any  activities  can  be  made 
clearly  and  openly,  and  will  not  smolder  until  the  fire 
of  active  discontent  is  burning. 

When  the  organization  has  once  become  firmly  estab- 
lished, the  Leader  will  find  that  the  girls  are,  almost 
invariably,  proud  of  having  a  "regular  Club."  Holding 
office  in  their  Club  then  means  something.  Membership 
upon  a  Committee  is  of  real  importance.  The  girls 
themselves  will  be  the  first  to  detect  any  artificiality  in 
their  Club  organization;  each  will  resent  being  awarded 
an  office  which  is  simply  a  name.  In  this  way  the  girls 
come  to  know  the  meaning  of  responsibility.  For  they 
learn  that,  if  the  chairman  of  a  committee  fails  to  do 
her  appointed  task,  the  Club  suffers.  The  necessity  of 
having  each  girl  do  her  share  is  shown  in  the  reports 
which  are  made  to  them,  and  a  sense  of  obligation  for 
the  work  of  the  whole  Club  is  aroused  in  the  earnest 
Club  member. 


THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  CLUB         73 

The  great  value  of  definite  organization  has  been 
recognized  from  the  first  by  the  large  organizations  of 
Girls'  Clubs.  The  National  League  of  Women  Workers 
states  as  its  principles  for  each  of  its  Clubs:  "Self- 
government;  electing  its  own  officers;  submitting  all  de- 
cisions to  the  rule  of  the  majority;  developing  Club 
policies;  learning  to  use  the  machinery  necessary  to 
cooperative  life."  Just  how  these  principles  have  worked 
out  in  its  Clubs  is  reflected  in  the  following  statement 
written  by  a  Club  member  in  the  Baltimore,  Maryland, 
"Progress  Club."  "Three  of  the  most  simple  and  nec- 
essary safeguards  in  Club  life  are:  i.  Think  of  the 
good  of  the  Club,  not  your  own.  2.  Express  your  opinion 
in  open  meeting.  3.  When  voted  down,  yield  cheerfully 
to  the  majority."  Such  a  spirit  of  fairness  and  coopera- 
tion is  a  valuable  contribution  from  any  Club  to  a 
community.  Other  large  groups  of  Clubs — the  Y.  W. 
C.  A.,  the  Camp  Fire,  the  Girl  Scouts — all  recognize  the 
value  of  and  necessity  for  definite  organization  by  their 
insistence  upon  regular  business  meetings  in  all  Clubs 
under  their  supervision. 

The  Kind  of  Organization 

To  what  extent  it  is  wise  to  introduce  organization 
will  depend  largely  upon  the  group  of  girls  in  the  Club. 
Some  organization  is  possible  in  all  Clubs,  even  among 
those  composed  of  girls  ten  to  twelve  years  old.  But 
the  younger  girls  cannot  be  given  so  much  work  of  this 
kind  as  can  those  who  are  older.  An  extended  business 
meeting  might  make  young  girls  restless  and  they  would 
come  to  thoroughly  dislike  the  times  when  the  Club's 


74  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

business  is  before  their  group.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
older  girls  often  enjoy  the  extensive  committee  work,  the 
long  discussions  and  the  voting  upon  Club  questions. 

Every  Club,  however,  can  have  its  constitution,  worked 
out,  step  by  step,  in  a  committee  meeting  and  in  Club 
discussion.  At  this  point  in  the  starting  of  the  Club, 
the  wise  help  of  the  Club  Leader  is  of  greatest  im- 
portance. Through  her  own  knowledge  of  what  should 
be  included  in  the  constitution,  she  will  be  able  to  give 
practical  suggestions  which  will  make  of  the  constitution 
that  backbone  of  the  Club  which  it  should  be. 

In  all  kinds  of  Clubs,  a  simple  constitution  has  proved 
most  practicable.  In  Hartley  House,  New  York  City, 
the  Girls'  Club  constitutions  are  used  mainly  to  settle 
the  question  of  terms  of  office,  dues,  and  absences.  To 
fill  a  constitution  with  many  detailed  and  specific  regula- 
tions is  to  pave  the  way  for  future  difficulties.  Condi- 
tions change.  The  girls  grow  and  develop.  A  detailed 
constitution  may  admirably  fit  a  situation  at  the  time 
when  the  Club  is  started  and  yet  prove  inadequate  within 
a  year.  It  is  a  distinct  help  to  a  Club  to  have  a  con- 
stitution under  which  the  Club  policy  may  be  continually 
adjusted  to  meet  changing  conditions.  A  large  Club  in 
Pennsylvania  once  encountered  just  this  difficulty.  The 
constitutional  regulation  concerning  its  Membership 
Committee  was,  "The  membership  committee  shall  have 
five  members,  meeting  once  a  month  to  consider  ways 
of  extending  the  Club  membership."  As  time  went  on, 
the  Club  grew  until  a  far  larger  membership  committee 
was  necessary,  with  an  entirely  new  way  of  meeting 
changed  conditions.  It  was  then  necessary  to  change  the 
constitution  to  meet  these  new  conditions.  If  the  con- 


THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  CLUB         75 

stitution  had  included  an  elastic  clause  such  as,  "It  shall 
be  the  duty  of  the  membership  committee  to  take  charge 
of  the  membership  problems  of  the  Club,"  the  Club 
could  have  made  any  changes  necessary  without  the 
formality  of  changing  its  constitution. 

The  Leader  who  is  preparing  herself  for  the  discus- 
sion and  formation  of  her  Club's  constitution  will  see 
that  several  points  must  necessarily  be  considered :  Name 
and  purpose,  membership,  administration,  committees, 
meetings,  finance,  amendments,  by-laws  (including  the 
duties  of  the  officers  and  the  committees).  A  study  of 
constitutions  which  have  been  used  in  other  Girls'  Clubs 
will  help  the  new  Leader. 

CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  DOLLY  MADISON 
CLUB 

College  Settlement,  New  York  City 
ARTICLE  I 

NAME 

This  organization  shall  be  known  as  the  Dolly  Madison  Club. 
ARTICLE  II 

OBJECT 

We  believe  that  all  members  of  this  Club  shall  work  for  the 
best  in  girlhood.  We  further  believe  we  are  old  enough  to 
make  up  a  line  of  conduct  and  to  live  up  to  it.  We  hope  that 
all  our  members  will  remember  the  ideals  of  truth,  sociability, 


76  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

service,  self-reliance.    We  desire  that  our  Club  members  shall 
be  cheerful,  and  always  work  for  good  health. 

ARTICLE  III 

MEMBERSHIP 

SECTION  i.  Any  girl  applying  for  membership  shall  be  at  least 
thirteen  years  old  and  in  the  eighth  grade  of  elementary  school. 

SECTION  2.  She  shall  be  present  at  the  meeting  at  which  she 
is  proposed  and  at  the  one  following.  She  shall  be  voted  upon 
at  the  third  meeting,  at  which  meeting  she  shall  not  be  present. 

.SECTION  3.  A  favorable  vote  of  two-thirds  of  the  members 
present  shall  be  necessary  for  her  election. 

ARTICLE  IV 

OFFICERS 

SECTION  i.  The  officers  of  this  Club  shall  be  a  President, 
Vice-President,  Secretary  and  Treasurer. 

SECTION  2.  Election  of  officers  shall  be  once  a  year — namely, 
at  the  first  regular  meeting  in  October. 

SECTION  3.  A  favorable  vote  of  the  majority  present  shall  be 
necessary  for  election. 

ARTICLE  V 

DUTIES   OF  OFFICERS 

SECTION  I.  The  President  shall  preside  at  all  Club  meetings. 
She  shall  appoint  all  committees. 

SECTION  2.  The  Vice-president  shall  take  charge  in  the  absence 
of  the  President. 

SECTION  3.  The  Secretary  shall  keep  the  minutes  of  the 
meeting. 

SECTION  4.  The  Treasurer  shall  keep  a  clear  record  of  the 
money  collected  and  spent  by  the  Club. 


THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  CLUB         77 


ARTICLE  VI 

MEETINGS 

The  Club  shall  meet  every  Saturday  afternoon  from  3  to 
5:30  o'clock. 

ARTICLE  VII 

DUES 

Dues  shall  be  three  cents  a  week. 

BY-LAWS 

1.  Two-thirds  of  all  the  members  of  the  Club  shall  make  a 
quorum. 

2.  The  constitution  may  be  changed  by  a  two-thirds  vote  of 
the  Club. 

3.  Order  of  business  shall  be: 

1.  Meeting  called  to  order  at  three. 

2.  Collection  of  dues — quietly. 

3.  Reading  of  minutes. 

4.  Proposals. 

5.  Old  Business. 

6.  New  Business. 

7.  Programs. 

8.  Adjournment. 

Somewhat  different  in  general  scope  as  well  as  in  its 
details  is  the  following  Constitution  suggested  by  the 
Young  Women's  Christian  Association  for  use  by  its 
Girls'  Clubs: 


78  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

CONSTITUTION  OF  THE CLUB  OF  THE 

YOUNG  WOMEN'S  CHRISTIAN  ASSOCIATION 

ARTICLE  I 

NAME  AND  PURPOSE 

SECTION  i.  The  name  of  this  Club  shall  be . 

SECTION  2.  The  purpose  of  this  Club  shall  be . 

ARTICLE  II 

MEMBERSHIP 

SECTION  i.  Any  young  woman  may  become  a  member  of  this 
Club  upon  recommendation  of  the  Executive  Committee  and 
election  by  the  Club  at  any  regular  meeting. 

SECTION  2.  The  membership  fee  shall  be  per  annum, 

payable  . 

SECTION  3.  Members  of  this  Club  become  members  of  the 
Young  Women's  Christian  Association  and  are  entitled  to  all 
its  membership  privileges  upon  recommendation  of  the  Asso- 
ciation's Membership  Committee  and  election  by  the  Board  of 
Directors. 

ARTICLE  III 

ADMINISTRATION 

SECTION  i.  This  Club  is  organized  as  a  feature  of  the  Young 
Women's  Christian  Association  and  its  conduct  and  administra- 
tion shall  meet  with  the  approval  of  the Committee  of  the 

Association. 

SECTION  2.  The  management  of  this  Club  shall  be  vested  in 
an  Executive  Committee  composed  of  the  officers  and  the  Leader 
of  the  Club  and  the Secretary  of  the  Association. 


THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  CLUB         79 

SECTION  3.  The  officers  of  the  Club  shall  be  a  President,  Vice- 
President,  Secretary,  and  Treasurer,  who  shall  perform  the  duties 
usually  required  of  such  officers.  They  shall  be  elected  by  the 
members  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Club  and  shall  hold 
office  for  one  year  or  until  their  successors  are  elected. 

SECTION  4.  The  general  work  of  the  Club  shall  be  under  the 

direction  of  a  Leader  appointed  by  the  chairman  of  the  

Committee  of  the  Association  in  consultation  with  the  

Secretary. 


ARTICLE  IV 

COMMITTEES 

There  shall  be  such  standing  and  special  committees  as  arc 
found  necessary  to  direct  the  various  activities  of  the  Club  in 
the  fulfilment  of  its  purpose. 


ARTICLE  V 

MEETINGS 

Meetings  of  the  Club  shall  be  held  regularly. 
ARTICLE  VI 

FINANCE 

Since  this  Club   is   organized  as  a   feature  of  the  Young 

Women's  Christian  Association,  of  the  money  received 

from  membership  fees  shall  be  paid  to  the  treasury  of  the 
Young  Women's  Christian  Association.  The  remainder  of  the 
Club  funds  may  be  expended  for  any  purpose  voted  by  the  Club 
according  to  its  budget. 


8o  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

ARTICLE  VII 

^x 

AMENDMENTS 

Amendments  to  this  Constitution  shall  require  for  their  adop- 
tion the  approval  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Club,  notice 
in  writing  at  a  previous  meeting,  and  a  two-thirds  vote  of  the 
members  present  at  a  regular  meeting,  except  Article  III,  Sec- 
tions i  and  2,  and  Article  VII,  which  shall  not  be  subject  to 
amendment. 

BY-LAWS 
I.  MEETINGS 

SECTION  i.  The  regular  meetings  of  the  Club  shall  occur 
on  . 

SECTION  2.  The  annual  meetings  of  the  Club  shall  occur 
on  . 

SECTION  3. members  of  the  CluB  shall  constitute  a 

quorum. 

II.  DUTIES  OF  OFFICERS 

SECTION  i.  The  President  shall  preside  at  all  meetings  of  the 
Club.  With  the  approval  of  the  Executive  Committee  she  shall 
appoint  all  standing  and  special  committees  and  she  shall  be 
ex  officio  a  member  of  all  committees. 

SECTION  2.  The  Vice-President  shall  have  all  the  powers  and 
perform  all  the  duties  of  the  President  in  her  absence. 

SECTION  3.  The  Treasurer  shall  have  charge  of  the  funds  of 
the  Club.  She  shall  collect  the  dues,  pay  bills  approved  by  the 
President,  and  make  a  report  to  the  Club  at  its  regular  and 
annual  meetings  of  all  receipts  and  expenditures. 

SECTION  4.  The  Secretary  shall  give  necessary  notice  of  meet- 
ings, keep  the  minutes  and  conduct  the  correspondence  of  the 


THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  CLUB        81 

Club.     She  shall  also  receive  and  file  the  written  reports  of 
officers  and  committees. 

III.  COMMITTEES 

SECTION  I.  The  work  of  the  committees  shall  be  planned  in 
consultation  with  the  Executive  Committee,  and  monthly  reports 
with  recommendations  shall  be  presented  to  the  Club  for  action 
and  filing. 

SECTION  2.  The  Standing  Committees  shall  be  as  follows: 
(Insert  names  of  the  committees  which  are  necessary  to  carry 
on  the  work  of  the  Club.) 

SECTION  3.  The  duties  of  the  Standing  Committees  shall  be  as 
follows:  (Itemize  the  duties  of  each  committee  in  order  as 
named  above.) 

IV.  AMENDMENTS 

These  By-Laws  may  be  amended  by  a  two-thirds  vote  of  the 

members  present  at  a  regular  meeting,  provided  days' 

notice  for  the  proposed  amendment  shall  have  been  given. 

Constitution  for  Boys'  and  Girls'  Agricultural  Clubs 
(U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture). 

ARTICLE  I 

NAME  OF  CLUB 

ARTICLE  II 

OBJECTS  OF  CLUB 

ARTICLE  III 

MEMBERSHIP 

Including  badge  or  button,  ami  a  provision  for  honorary 
members,  if  desired. 


82  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

ARTICLE  IV 

OFFICERS 

A  President,  one  Vice-President  from  each  school  district, 
a  Secretary-Treasurer,  and  an  Advisory  Committee  consisting  of 
the  county  superintendent,  the  lecturer  of  the  county  grange, 
and  the  president  of  the  county  farmers'  Club  or  Institute. 

ARTICLE  V 

DUTIES  OF  MEMBERS 

As  prescribed  in  the  rules  for  contests. 
ARTICLE  VI 

DUTIES  OF  OFFICERS 

Defined  as  usual  in  such  organizations. 

SECTION  — .  The  Advisory  Committee  shall  arrange  for  all 
public  contests  and  exhibits,  the  procuring  and  awarding  of 
prizes,  the  sending  of  letters  and  circulars  of  information,  the 
general  county  meetings  of  the  Club,  and  the  reporting  of 
statistics  and  other  information  to  the  State  organizer. 

ARTICLE  VII 

SUBSIDIARY  CLUBS 

Each  local  Club  having  Club  members  within  its  dis- 
trict may  organize  as  a  local  Club  with  its  own  officers,  badge, 
local  prizes,  etc.  Its  Advisory  Committee  shall  consist  of  the 
district  school-board  and  teachers,  and  its  President  shall  be 
one  of  the  Vice-Presidents  of  the  county  Club. 


THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  CLUB         83 

Working  Up  the  Organization 

In  making  the  Club  organization  a  matter  of  vital 
importance  to  the  girls,  much  depends  upon  the  way  in 
which  the  idea  is  introduced.  The  Leader  can  at  once 
assume  the  larger  share  of  the  responsibility,  giving  the 
girls  little  or  no  opportunity  to  think  out  what  is  neces- 
sary; or  she  can,  from  the  outset,  try  to  draw  out  the 
girls'  own  ideas  and  give  them  a  share  in  the  planning 
itself.  In  the  first  case,  she  will  be  encouraging  the 
girls  to  lean  upon  her.  In  the  second,  the  Leader  at  once 
sets  about  to  develop  their  self-reliance.  The  story  of 
how  two  Girls'  Clubs  were  started  will  show  these  two 
methods  in  practise. 

It  was  at  the  first  meeting  of  a  Girls'  Club  and  the  en- 
thusiatic  Club  Leader  had  carefully  made  all  plans  before- 
hand. "Girls,"  she  said,  "we  must  meet  every  two  weeks. 
I  think  it  would  be  nice  to  call  ourselves  the  Friendly 
Club.  And  we  must  have  officers.  May,  will  you  be 
President?"  And  so  she  went  from  point  to  point  of 
the  Club  Organization,  not  realizing  that  the  girls  were 
having  little  voice  in  the  matters  to  be  decided.  At  the 
end  of  the  meeting,  a  great  deal  had  apparently  been 
accomplished.  The  Club  was  splendidly  started,  on 
paper.  Every  office  had  been  filled  and  the  committees 
appointed,  in  precisely  the  way  the  Leader  had  planned 
it  at  home. 

Contrast  this  with  the  way  in  which  another  Club 
Leader  worked.  She,  too,  was  enthusiastic  and  had  made 
careful  plans  before  the  first  meeting.  When  she  called 
the  girls  together,  she  said :  "Now,  girls,  don't  you  think 
it  would  be  nice  to  have  our  Club  work  in  exactly  the 


84  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

same  way  as  all  big  Clubs  ?"  The  girls  eagerly  assented. 
So  she  asked  them  what  they  knew  about  other  Clubs 
and  the  way  in  which  they  were  conducted.  After  she 
had  learned  the  extent  of  their  knowledge,  she  brought 
out  a  book  which,  she  said,  a  great  many  Clubs  use  in 
their  work.  The  book  was  Roberts'  Rules  of  Order, 
and  she  then  read  and  discussed  with  them  the  list  of 
officers  and  their  duties.  They  discussed  the  problem 
of  a  business  meeting  and  the  Leader  promised  to  tell 
them  just  what  is  done  in  one.  So  formidable  a  thing 
as  "parliamentary  law"  was  not  mentioned,  but  in  this 
simple,  conversational  way  the  girls  learned  the  funda- 
mental requisites  of  Club  organization.  The  election  of 
officers  and  the  choice  of  a  Club  name  did  not  take  place 
at  this  first  meeting.  The  Leader  urged  the  girls  to 
think  about  it  before  the  next  meeting,  when  they  were 
to  start  to  organize.  At  the  close  of  the  first  meeting, 
this  second  Club  was  apparently  far  behind  the  first  in 
accomplishing  Club  organization.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
however,  the  second  Club  was  much  more  nearly  a  real 
Club  because  of  the  spirit  and  interest  which  had  been 
created  by  letting  the  girls  take  so  active  a  share  in  the 
actual  formation  of  the  Club. 

In  some  groups,  the  necessity  for  organization  is 
recognized  as  a  matter  of  course.  Other  girls,  however, 
have  never  thought  of  it  as  a  part  of  their  Club  work; 
in  such  a  case,  a  Leader  can  often  interest  the  group, 
telling  them  how  other  Clubs  are  run,  of  their  officers, 
their  names,  and  their  colors.  One  Club  organizer  has 
been  able  to  arouse  interest  by  showing  the  new  girls 
attractive  pictures  of  Girls'  Clubs,  and  by  telling  stories 
of  what  these  other  girls  have  done.  All  of  these  Clubs, 


THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  CLUB        85 

she  may  say,  have  officers  and  committees  and  business 
meetings  to  help  them  do  the  work.  Such  conversations 
as  these  arouse  among  the  girls  the  desire  to  do  "what 
the  rest  of  the  Girls'  Clubs  do." 

Excellent  suggestions  for  the  first  few  meetings  of  a 
Club  have  been  prepared  by  Miss  Gertrude  Gogin,  in  her 
pamphlet  on  "Girls'  Work." 

The  First  Four  Meetings  of  a  Club 

I.  There  should  be  in  general  three  divisions  of  the  first 
meeting:  (a)  A  short,  interesting  talk  on  what  a  Club  is,  and 
what  kind  of  work  is  made  possible  through  a  Club;  (fc)  es- 
sential first  steps  in  organization;  (c)  a  social,  time  during 
which  all  may  become  acquainted. 

a.  In  the  informal  talk  on  what  a  Club  is,  emphasis  should 
be  placed  on  the  fact  that  it  is  self-governing,  that  the  girls 
are  responsible  through  their  own  treasuries  for  Club  expenses, 
and  that  the  program  of  the  Club  is  in  the  hands  of  the  Club 
members.     It  is  a  good  plan  to  tell   concrete  stories  of  other 
Clubs,   describing   Club  parties  and   "stunts"   so  that  the  girls 
will  feel  that  in  joining  a  Club  they  are  coming  in  touch  with 
a  country-wide  movement  in  which  many  other  girls  are  par- 
ticipating.    A   definite   description   of    a   Club   program    which 
includes  class  work  is  a  good  thing  to  give.    Pictures  of  other 
Club    girls,    convention    pictures    and    banners,    printed    Club 
programs,  samples  of  Club  yells  and  songs,  all  stimulate  interest. 

b.  After  the  talk  on  Club  work,  the  question  as  to  whether 
the  group  wishes  to  organize  should  be  raised,  a  motion  made, 
and  formal  vote  taken.     (It  is  well  to  insist  upon  parliamentary 
rules  from  the  beginning,  for  while  the  girls  may  seem  not  to 
like  it  and  also  to  need  much  instruction,  this  is  often  due  to 
unfamiliarity  with  such  a  method  and  a  certain  shyness.     See 
the  Primer  of  Parliamentary  Law  for  further  information  about 
parliamentary  rules.)     After  the  voting  is  over,  the  following 
steps  should  be  taken: 


86  GIRLS*  CLUBS 

1.  Formation  of  a  Committee  on  the  Club  Constitution.    This 
committee  should  consist  of  five  or  seven  members  nominated 
by  the  girls  and  voted  upon  by  all.     Care  should  be  taken,  if 
the  group  includes  several  different  "cliques,"  that  each  clique 
should  as  far  as  possible  be  represented.    This  committee  should 
understand  that  it  must  meet  with  the  Secretary  or  Organizer 
one  or  more  nights  before  the  next   Club  meeting  and  draw 
up  the  constitution.     Be   careful  that  the  time   for  this  com- 
mittee meeting  is  definite  and  clearly  understood  by  all.     Do 
not   let  the   girls   leave  without   arranging   for  it,   as  it  saves 
much  time  and  trouble.     Suggested  constitutions  may  be  shown 
at  this  committee  meeting,  but  should  never  be  adopted  in  toto 
by  the  committee,  for  the  girls  should  be  made  to  feel  that  they 
are  contributing  something  to  the  Club  through  the  constitution 
which  they  write.    Special  emphasis  should  be  laid  on  the  sec- 
tion describing  the  Club  purpose;  it  should  be  put  in  the  words 
of  the  girls. 

2.  Formation   of  a  nominating  committee.     If   the   group   is 
fairly  well  acquainted  with  one  another  this  committee  can  be 
nominated  from  the  floor  and  elected  at  once.    If  the  girls  are 
strangers,  it  is  often  better  to  wait  until  the  second  meeting. 
In   choosing   the   Nominating   Committee,   the   girls   should   be 
warned  to  put  on  it  girls  who  will  make  a  wise  choice  of  other 
girls  for  officers. 

3.  Club  dues,  when  payable:    Care  should  be  taken  that  these 
are  not  excessive.     Ten  cents  a  month  has  been  found  a  good 
amount. 

4.  Informal  discussion  as  to  desirable  and  possible  class  and 
program   work.     With  some   groups   it   is  possible   to   have   a 
program  committee   formed  to  confer  with  the  secretary   (or 
Leader).     In  other  instances,  it  is  better  for  the  secretary  to 
suggest  possible  programs  and  let  the  Club  vote  as  a  whole 
upon  them  at  a  later  meeting. 

5.  Discussion  of  Club  name  and  colors.    If  this  is  not  decided, 
have  suggestions  brought  to  the  next  meeting. 

6.  Announcement  of  the  time  of  the  next  meeting. 

7.  Girls  should  be  appointed  to  pass  Club  membership  cards 
on  each  of  which  there  is  a  space  for  the  name  of  the  Club 


THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  CLUB         87 

and  for  the  name  and  address  of  a  member.  These  cards 
should  be  kept  by  the  secretary  pro  tern  and  handed  by  her  to 
the  Club  treasurer  as  soon  as  she  is  elected. 

c.  To  end  the  evening,  have  simple  group  games,  marching, 
a  sight-seeing  trip  through  the  building,  ending  in  the  "gym" 
for  some  kind  of  frolic  in  which  all  take  part  and  so  become 
better  acquainted.  Refreshments  are  not  necessary,  though  in 
many  instances  it  is  well  to  have  them. 

II.  The  Second  Meeting  for  Organization. 

a.  If  possible,   select  a  Secretary  pro   tern  from  among  the 
girls. 

b.  Have  the  girls  seated  formally  even  at  the  first  meeting, 
as  they  should  from  the  start  be  made  to  realize  the  dignity 
of  a  business  meeting. 

c.  Report  of  the  Constitution  Committee.     (Have  the  girls  on 
the  committee  rise  and  give  their  names  so  that  the  Club  may 
know  the  girls  who  have  done  this  work.)      The  constitution 
should  be  adopted  one  article  at  a  time.     Explain  and  make 
concrete  by  illustrations  wherever  possible.     When  this  is  fin- 
ished, have  it  accepted  as  a  whole,  as  corrected. 

d.  Report  of  the  Nominating  Committee,  if  this  was  appointed 
at  the  previous  meeting.     Voting  by  ballot  should   follow  the 
report.    Ballots  (slips  of  paper)  should  be  prepared  beforehand 
and  tellers  appointed  so  that  the  voting  may  take  place  quickly. 

e.  Voting  on  the  Club  name  and  colors. 

/.  While  the  votes  for  officers  are  being  counted,  it  is  some- 
times possible  to  have  the  girls  learn  a  cheer,  or  a  short,  snappy 
song  which  may  be  sung  in  honor  of  the  incoming  officers. 

g.  Report  on  the  results  of  the  voting  for  officers.  The 
newly  elected  President  should  take  the  chair. 

h.  Announcement  of  classes  and  information  regarding  regis- 
tration. 

i.  Election  of  a  Social  Committee  to  serve  for  a  month.  The 
immediate  work  of  this  committee  should  be  planning  for  a 
party  for  Club  members  to  take  place  at  the  next  Club  meeting. 
This  is  needed  to  vary  the  monotony  of  too  many  business 
meetings. 

;.  Adjournment  by  vote. 


88  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

III.  The  following  work  with  officers  and  committees  should 
be  done  before  the  next  meeting: 

a.  The  Secretary  (or  Club  Leader)  should  plan  to  meet  with 
all  officers  and  committee  members  to  explain  the  responsibility 
and  the  specific  duties  of  Club  officers. 

b.  The  Club  Secretary  should  be  told  of  the  importance  of 
keeping  her  minutes  up  to  date  in  a  regular  book,  not  on  loose 
sheets  of  paper.     The  form  in  which  minutes  are  usually  kept 
should  be   explained,   also   the  value   of   writing   only   on   the 
right-hand  page,  and  of  numbering  the  pages.    An  example  of 
Club  minutes  may  be  found  in  the  Primer  of  Parliamentary 
Law.     If  this  is  shown  to  the  girl,  she  will  have  a  different 
feeling  about  her  work  as  Secretary,  for  with  a  definite  example 
before  her  any  feeling  of  hesitancy  about  her  work  vanishes 
and  she  knows  how  to  begin. 

c.  In  the  same  way,  the  Treasurer  should  be  shown  a  simple 
system  of  accounting  and  told  that,  as  soon  as  possible,  Club 
funds  should  be  put  in  a  bank  and  Club  bills  paid  by  check. 

d.  In  meeting  with  the  Social  Committee,  care  should  be  taken 
to  draw  upon  the  ideas  of  the  girls;  even  though  the  Secretary 
(or  Leader)   has  a  definite  plan  for  the  Club  party,  it  is  well 
not  to  seem  to  have  one  until  some  discussion  has  come  from 
the  girls.     Definite  work  for  the  party  should  be  given  each 
committee  member  and  on  the  night  of  the  party  this  committee 
should  act  as  hostesses. 

e.  The  third  meeting  is  a  party,  needed  to  vary  the  monotony 
of  too  many  business  meetings. 

IV.  The  fourth  meeting  should  include  the  following: 

o.  Reading  of  the  minutes  of  the  last  meeting  by  the  Secretary. 

b.  Treasurer's  report.    This  shows  which  girls  have  paid  dues, 
and  makes  all  the  girls  feel  the  importance  of  the  Club  treasury. 

c.  Report  of  the  Social  Committee  on  the  party  of  the  pre- 
ceding week  and  on  any  future  plans  which  the  committee  may 
have. 

d.  Formation  of  other  committees,  membership  and  service. 
It  is  often  well  to  have  the  Vice-President  of  the  Club  auto- 
matically become  chairman  of  the  Membership  Committee. 

e.  Discussion  of  possible  service  work. 
/.  Games,  charades,  etc. 


THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  CLUB        89 

The  planning  and  execution  of  some  such  definite 
program  as  this  will  almost  inevitably  find  a  response  in 
the  interest  of  the  girls.  That  the  girls  do  respond 
naturally  to  plans  for  organization  is  shown  in  the  fol- 
lowing interesting  report  of  a  Club  Leader  in  the  National 
League  of  Women  Workers : 

"In  the  Club  which  I  know  best  we  started  with  a 
nucleus  of  eight  girls,  members  of  a  junior  Club  which 
had  disbanded  because,  as  one  of  the  girls  said,  'it  was 
no  fun/  Amusement  will  attract  and  hold  people  to- 
gether if  only  for  a  short  time,  and  so  for  the  first  three 
months,  with  the  exception  of  two  informal  talks,  we 
had  parties  of  many  kinds.  Incidentally,  our  member- 
ship increased  to  thirty.  The  first  parties  were  the  result 
of  my  own  planning,  but  the  later  ones  were  suggested 
and  carried  out  by  the  girls.  Our  first  business  meeting 
came  from  a  desire  on  the  part  of  the  girls  to  plan  more 
carefully  for  their  parties.  At  that  first  business  meeting, 
the  simplest  points  of  parliamentary  law  were  explained. 
We  decided  that  we  had  to  have  a  business  meeting  from 
time  to  time  and  this  brought  us  to  the  question  of 
officers.  That  night  we  appointed  three  committees  to 
select  three  possible  tickets.  Two  weeks  later  we  elected 
a  President,  Secretary  and  Treasurer  and  planned  to 
have  a  business  meeting  every  month,  just  as  the  senior 
Club  did.  That  was  the  last  time  I  presided  at  a  meet- 
ing, and  the  last  time  I  offered  any  advice  or  help  except 
on  request." 


90  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

What  the  Officers  Shall  Be 

In  working  out  the  constitution,  many  questions  arise 

in  connection  with  the  particular  Club  with  which  a 

Leader  is  working.    The  officers  of  the  Club  should  be 

created  to  meet  the  actual  requirements  of  work  to  be 

done  and  their  duties  should  be  clearly  outlined  from 

the  start.  The  usual  officers  are  President,  Vice-President, 

Secretary  and  Treasurer.     In  some  Clubs  other  names 

are  given  to  the  officers  who  do  this  work.     One  Club 

Leader,  upon  finding  that  her  girls  were  interested  in 

military  organization,  suggested  with  great  success  the 

regulation  names  of  army  officers.     In  another  Club, 

where  the  girls  wished  a  Greek  name  for  their  Club,  the 

Leader  used  the  Greek  words  for  President  and  the 

other  officers,  with  the  result  that  the  importance  of 

those  offices  seemed  greater.     A  certain  school  teacher 

in  organizing  her  girls  decided  that  they  should  have 

some  training  in  citizenship,  and  so  duplicated  the  officers 

of    the    city   administration;    so    that    the   "policemen" 

looked  after  the  behavior  of  the  girls,  and  so  on.    The 

girls  thoroughly  enjoyed  the  plan.     Their  interest  was 

awakened  in  civic  affairs  and  they  gained  a  working 

knowledge  of  the  methods  of  city  government.    A  little 

ingenuity  such  as  this  in  the  naming  of  the  officers  or 

committees  will  often  increase  the  interest  of  the  girls 

or  their  pride  in  their  Club. 

The  Selection  of  Officers 

In  the  choosing  of  officers,  there  are,  in  general,  two 
methods  which  are  employed.    These  are  the  selection 


INSPECTION  DAY  AT  THE  JOHN  WANAMAKER  COMMERCIAL  INSTITUTE 
ENCAMPMENT,  ISLAND  HEIGHTS,  N.  J. 


GIRLS'  BATTALION  OF  THE  JOHN  WANAMAKER  COMMERCIAL  INSTITUTE, 
PHILADELPHIA 


THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  CLUB         91 

of  officers  by  popular  election,  without  any  specific  regu- 
lations concerning  eligibility  to  office;  and  the  election 
of  officers  from  those  girls  who  have  accomplished  certain 
desirable  things  in  their  Club  life.  With  the  popular- 
election  system,  great  care  must  be  taken  to  see  that 
the  offices  are  generally  distributed  and  that  the  same 
girls  do  not  repeatedly  occupy  them.  This  can  be  regu- 
lated by  having  certain  rules  about  the  election,  such  as 
that  forbidding  a  girl's  reelection  to  the  Presidency  im- 
mediately upon  the  expiration  of  her  term.  A  more 
even  and  impartial  distribution  of  offices  gives  many 
Club  members  an  opportunity  to  show  what  they  can  do. 
Often  a  girl  with  hitherto  unsuspected  talents  rises 
splendidly  to  the  responsibilities  of  office.  The  use  of 
a  nominating  board,  with  the  Club  Leader  as  ex-officio 
member,  will  often  result  in  a  wider  and  wiser  distribu- 
tion of  Club  offices  than  is  possible  where  nominations 
are  made  from  the  floor  and  with  little  forethought. 

The  plan  of  having  those  girls  eligible  for  office  who 
have  shown  certain  attainments  has  the  great  advantage 
of  inspiring  the  girls  to  strive  for  the  necessary  quali- 
fications. The  offices  in  the  Club  then  mean  more  than 
popularity  sufficient  to  win  votes.  They  mean  that  the 
girls  who  occupy  them  have  accomplished  certain  useful 
things.  The  disadvantage  of  this  plan  is  that  the  girls 
with  little  ability  sometimes  become  discouraged  and  say 
"they  never  have  a  chance"  in  the  Club  life,  or  that 
"there  isn't  any  show"  for  the  girl  who  is  not  "bright." 
It  is  possible  to  overcome  this  disadvantage  by  a  general 
distribution  of  committee  membership:  making  some 
offices  obtainable  through  appointment  by  virtue  of  special 
ability,  and  others  available  through  popular  election. 


92  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

The  Matter  of  Committees 

In  the  matter  of  committees,  here  again  the  actual 
needs  of  the  Club  should  govern  the  number  established. 
Each  committee  should  have  a  definite  work  to  do  which 
does  not  overlap  the  work  of  any  other  committee. 
Each  committee  chairman  should  understand  exactly 
what  is  expected  of  her  committee;  she  should  also  be 
taught  the  value  of  dividing  the  work  and  of  making 
each  committee  member  responsible  for  her  own  part 
of  the  task.  This  teaches  the  girls  methods  of  working 
and  of  organizing  work.  For  example,  the  work  of  a 
Party  Committte  can  be  divided  into  the  work  on  in- 
vitations, reception,  refreshments,  and  program.  The 
committee  member  responsible  for  each  division  submits 
her  plans  for  that  division  to  the  committee.  They  dis- 
cuss it  and  decide  on  the  plan  of  action.  The  committee 
member  in  charge  is  then  responsible  for  seeing  that  it 
is  carried  out. 

Where  the  girls  themselves  are  doing  the  work  of  the 
Club,  it  will  often  seem  to  the  Club  Leader  that  the  task 
would  be  accomplished  much  more  quickly  and  effectively 
were  she  to  do  it  herself.  This  may  be  true,  but  were 
she  to  do  it  the  girls  would  not  gain  the  experience  of 
actual  practise.  The  most  wide-awake  and  thriving 
Club  is  in  most  cases  the  Club  whose  members  are 
themselves  all  busily  at  work  upon  its  various  activities. 

In  general,  there  are  two  kinds  of  committees  used  in 
Club  work:  the  standing  committee,  whose  duties  con- 
tinue throughout  an  entire  term  of  office;  and  the 
temporary  committee,  appointed  to  perform  certain 
tasks,  such  as  arranging  for  a  play,  and  whose  com- 


THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  CLUB        93 

mittee  work  ceases  when  the  specific  task  is  completed. 
The  following  is  a  list  of  committees  used  in  Club  work : 

A.  First  Committees  Necessary. 

1.  Constitution  Committee— to  draw  up  the  constitution. 

2.  Nominating  Committee— to  nominate  the  officers. 

B.  Helpful  Standing  Committees. 


1.  Membership 

2.  Program 

3.  Service 

4.  Social 


One  Club  Leader  has  suggested  for 
the  small  Club  group  that  each  of  these 
first  three  committees  have  five  mem- 
bers and  serve  for  six  months ;  that  the 


Social  Committee  have  seven  members,  with  the  chairman  serv- 
ing for  six  months,  but  with  a  change  in  committee  members 
every  month.  In  this  way,  all  Club  members  are  given  an 
opportunity  for  committee  responsibility. 

5.  Auditing  Committee — to  audit  the  books  of  the  Club 

once  a  year. 

6.  Executive  Committee — including  the  Club  officers,  some- 

times given  the  power  of  appointing  the  Club  com- 
mittees. Chairman  of  this  Committee:  the  President 
of  the  Club. 

C.  Temporary  Committees. 

The  following  list  of  committees,  compiled  from  the  records 
of  a  large  number  of  Girls'  Clubs,  shows  the  ways  in  which  the 
Committee  method  is  used  to  carry  on  the  work  of  the  Clubs: 

1.  Educational  Committee — to  consider  the  classes  to  be 

given  in  the  Club  and  to  secure  special  speakers  for 
the  Club. 

2.  Dramatic  Committee — to  select  plays  and  arrange  for 

the  dramatic  productions  of  the  Club. 

3.  Song  and  Cheer  Committee— to  solicit  original  songs 

from  the  Club  members,  and  plan  musical  events  such 
as  song  contests.  The  Song  Leader  of  the  Club  is 
often  chairman  ex  officio  of  this  Committee. 

4.  Banquet  Committee — to  arrange  for  the  Club  Banquets. 

5.  Poster  Committee — to  prepare  posters  for  the  special 

events  of  the  Club. 


94  GIRLS*  CLUBS 

6.  Flower  or  "Sunshine"  Committee — to  send  notes,  flowers 

or  other  greetings  to  sick  Club  members. 

7.  Summer    Outing    Committee — to   plan    for   the   Club's 

summer  camping  trip. 

8.  Thrift  Committee — to  help  the  girls  to  save  regularly. 

Such  a  list  shows  how  the  committee  work  can  be 
directly  adjusted  to  the  Club's  needs.  The  extent  of 
each  Committee's  responsibility  depends  upon  the  specific 
organization  of  each  Club.  In  a  small  Club  a  Committee's 
powers  may  be  more  extensive  than  in  a  large  Club, 
where  the  object  of  the  Committee  work  is  to  get  every 
member  as  actively  at  work  as  possible.  For  example, 
in  a  small  Club  the  Program  Committee  may  be  well 
able  to  plan  for  any  dramatic  productions  which  the  Club 
may  wish  to  have  during  the  year.  On  the  other  hand, 
in  a  large  Club  the  Program  Committee  will  be  amply 
busy  in  arranging  for  the  regular  meetings  of  the  Club 
and  cannot  adequately  attend  to  the  special  big  task  of 
producing  a  good  play.  In  the  small  Club,  such  a  task 
will  often  involve  the  active  help  of  every  Club  mem- 
ber. In  a  large  Club,  it  may  not.  But  the  underlying 
principle  of  successful  committee  work  in  any  Club  is 
simply  this:  to  make  the  number  of  committees  as  large 
as  is  necessary,  with  a  clear  understanding  always  ex- 
isting concerning  the  exact  task  which  each  is  to  perform. 

Names,  Colors,  and  Mottoes  for  the  Club 

When  the  problem  of  the  Club  name,  colors,  and 
motto  is  brought  before  the  girls,  suggestions  will  often 
be  numerous,  and  an  immediate  (and  hasty)  vote  may 
be  desired  by  the  Club  members.  This  choice  should, 


THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  CLUB         95 

however,  be  carefully  considered  by  the  Club.  The 
symbols  are  used  frequently.  The  name  appears  on  the 
Club  banner,  the  Club  pin  and  in  the  Club  songs.  The 
colors  are  used  for  decoration  at  the  special  functions 
of  the  Club.  The  motto  is  used  in  the  Club  ceremonies 
and  meetings  to  convey  an  idea  of  the  purpose  of  the 
Club.  The  problem  of  this  choice  may  be  suggested 
several  weeks  before  the  final  vote  is  taken.  In  the 
time  between  the  announcement  and  the  decision,  the 
Club  girls  may  bring  in  their  suggestions  and  there  can  be 
a  general  Club  discussion  upon  the  matter. 

There  are  many  sources  that  are  suggestive  for  names. 
The  Camp  Fire  groups  have  taken  their  names  and 
symbols  largely  from  the  folk  lore  of  the  different  coun- 
tries, most  often  from  the  Indian  legends  with  which 
their  organization  is  so  directly  associated.  The  names 
of  great  women  whose  lives  are  typical  of  what  the  girls 
wish  to  accomplish  have  been  frequently  chosen  by 
Girls'  Clubs.  The  charm  of  Greek  letters  appeals  to 
many  girls — "Gamma  Epsilon"  for  "General  Electric," 
for  instance.  Often  a  Club  has  wished  to  have  its  name 
directly  signify  its  purpose  and  work  as  "Civic  Club," 
or  "Business  Girls'  Club."  Groups  of  younger  girls 
choose  such  names  as  "The  Merry-Go-Round  Club,"  or 
"On  the  Alert."  The  following  list  of  the  names  chosen 
by  girls  shows  a  wide  variety: 

Adelphia  Amity 

Amo  Blue  Birds  of  Happiness 

Aimwell  Brownie 

Aloha  Bon  Accord 

Alcott  Circle  Chickadee 


96 


GIRLS'  CLUBS 


Chain  of  Friendship 

Chatter-Chatter 

Dickens  Club 

Ever  Ready 

Friendly  Club 

Fidelity 

Florence  Nightingale 

Froebel 

Favorites 

Greek  Social  Club 

Good  Will 

Helping  Hands 

Happy  Hearts 

Jolly  Friends 

Joan  of  Arc 

Jolly  Girls 

Kismet 

Kindly  Club 

Loyal  Friends 

Little  Women 

Loyalty 

Light  House 


Lend-a-Hand  Club 

Little  Housekeepers 

Laf-a-Lot 

Marionette  Club 

Merry-Go-Round 

Martha  Washington 

Merry  Makers 

On  the  Alert 

Play  Hour 

Progress  Club 

Rainbow  Social 

Satellites 

Silver  Sword 

Sunshine 

Steadfast 

Star 

T.  M.  T.  M.  (The  More  the 

Merrier) 
Thoughtful  Girls 
Wide  Awakes 
Willing  Workers 


Popular  combinations  of  colors  are  numerous — red 
and  white,  blue  and  white,  orange  and  black,  green  and 
white,  maroon  and  blue,  maroon  and  black.  If  colors 
are  chosen  wrhich  are  easily  purchased  in  cheap  materials, 
such  as  cheesecloth  and  tissue  paper,  the  Club  will  find 
its  future  tasks  of  decorating  for  the  Club  parties  com- 
paratively simple.  Many  a  Club,  in  striving  for  original- 
ity in  its  colors,  has  later  found  that  the  shades  chosen 
can  be  bought  only  in  expensive  materials  and  cannot 


THE  ORGANIZATION  OP  THE  CLUB        97 

be  generally  used.  Standard  combinations  of  colors 
which  have  successfully  stood  the  test  of  popular  ap- 
proval are,  for  the  most  part,  best  for  Girls*  Clubs. 

In  the  question  of  mottoes,  any  standard  dictionary 
is  a  help,  and  at  any  Public  Library  books  may  be  found 
full  of  suggestions.  The  Club  Leader  may  be  of  great 
help  to  the  Club  in  this  choice  by  herself  preparing  to 
give  suggestions. 

The  Business  Meeting  of  the  Club 

Regular  business  meetings  in  a  Club  are  of  great  value 
in  holding  the  Club  girls  steadily  to  their  purpose.  At 
each  business  meeting,  through  the  reports  of  committees, 
the  Club  sees  the  progress  which  is  being  made.  The 
dignity  and  procedure  of  the  meeting  teach  the  members 
the  value  of  dispatch.  Knowledge  of  parliamentary  law 
is  of  value  to  any  girl  and  may  be  quickly  gained  in 
the  Club  where  the  regular  order  is  followed  in  the  busi- 
ness meetings.  The  reports  of  the  officers  and  com- 
mittees train  them  in  ability  to  arrange  facts  in  an  orderly 
way. 

Nor  is  it  necessary  to  make  the  business  meetings 
mechanical.  Club  songs  can  be  introduced,  or  other 
features.  One  Girls'  Club,  on  the  evening  of  its  business 
meeting,  gathers  in  the  hall  and  marches  singing  to  the 
Club  Room,  arm  in  arm.  Roll-call  is  in  some  Clubs 
made  a  feature  of  interest  by  having  the  girls  respond 
with  something  besides  the  regulation  "present."  One 
month,  the  girls  may  tell  of  some  act  of  kindness  which 
they  have  seen  during  the  month;  at  another  meeting, 
of  some  act  for  civic  betterment  which  they  were  able 


98  GIRLS1  CLUBS 

to  perform  (such  as  picking  up  waste  paper  from  the 
sidewalk).  Or  perhaps  these  Club  members  answer  the 
roll  with  an  interesting  item  of  current  news.  A  week 
before  the  business  meeting,  the  plan  which  is  to  be  used 
in  responding  to  the  roll  call  is  announced.  In  this  way, 
the  girls  are  ready  and  the  variety  in  the  response  gives 
an  added  interest. 

The  regular  Order  of  Business  is: 

1.  Call  to  Order  by  the  President. 

2.  Roll-Call,  if  desired. 

3.  Minutes  of  Last  Meeting. 

4.  Treasurer's  Report. 

5.  Unfinished  Business. 

6.  New  Business. 

7.  Reports  of  Committees. 

8.  Adjournment. 

Symbolism  and  special  ceremonies  can  be  introduced 
as  a  part  of  this  regular  monthly  meeting.  The  initia- 
tion and  welcoming  of  new  members  can  be  given  a 
place  in  the  program.  Where  the  Club  gives  awards  or 
honors  of  any  kind,  the  presentation  to  the  successful 
girls  can  be  an  occasion  of  special  dignity.  Music  and 
poetry  have  in  them  an  appeal  to  girls,  and  the  Club 
which  can  infuse  its  special  ceremonies  with  that  which 
arouses  the  imagination  of  the  young  girls  has  awakened 
in  them  a  desire  which  may  lead  to  their  larger  develop- 
ment. These  elements  play  an  important  part  in  the 
plan  of  the  Camp  Fire  Girls.  Their  Council  Fire  is 
definitely  planned  to  give  to  their  members  a  sense  of 
the  beauty  of  what  they  are  doing.  When  the  fire  is 
lighted,  this  Ode  to  Fire  is  repeated. 


THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  CLUB        99 

"O  Fire! 

Long  years  ago  when  our  fathers  fought  with  great  animals, 

you  were  their  protection. 

From  the  cruel  cold  of  winter,  you  saved  them. 
When  they  needed  food,  you  changed  the  flesh  of  beasts  into 

savory  meat  for  them. 
During  all  the  ages  your  mysterious  flame  has  been  a  symbol  to 

them  for  Spirit. 
So  to-night,  we  light  our  fire  in  remembrance  of  the  Great  Spirit 

who  gave  you  to  us." 

"When  we  try  to  put  our  deepest  thoughts  into  words/' 
says  the  Camp  Fire  Manual,  "somehow  the  spirit  seems 
to  vanish,  for  words  are  too  inadequate.  For  this  rea- 
son, Camp  Fire  girls  use  poetry,  music,  ceremony,  and 
ritual,  color  and  drama  to  express  their  hopes,  purposes 
and  visions." 


The  Records  of  the  Club 

From  the  outset,  a  complete  record  of  the  Club's  ac- 
tivities should  be  kept.  Such  a  record  is  of  great  value 
in  planning  the  programs  for  following  years.  The  record 
of  a  successful  year's  work  is  an  excellent  basis  upon 
which  to  make  future  plans.  No  Club  should  be  without 
a  carefully  kept  Secretary's  record.  Following  a  busi- 
ness meeting  and  writing  the  proceedings  is  excellent 
experience  for  the  Secretary.  Committee  reports  should 
also  be  included  in  this  book.  At  a  gathering  of  the 
Industrial  Girls'  Clubs  (Y.  W.  C.  A.)  in  Altamont,  New 
York,  the  delegates,  who  were  Club  girls  themselves, 
decided  that  committees  should  hand  in  to  the  Secretary 
written  reports  once  a  month. 


ioo  GIRLS1  CLUBS 


LI 

BADER          

NAME 

ADDRESS 

REMARKS 

A  Report  Sheet  for  Club  Leaders,  College  Settlement,  New  York  City. 


THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE'XSLUB       101 


1st   MEETING 


2nd  MEETING 


3rd  MEETING 


4th  MEETING 


5th  MEETING 


TREASURY  DEPARTMENT 


tpenses 


Dues 


Balance  Fwd. 


A  Record  Blank  for  Club  Meetings,  College  Settlement,  New  York  City. 


102  Gi£LS;  CLUBS 

In  addition  to  the  book  of  minutes,  a  Secretary  may 
keep  a  "Happy  Club  Times"  book  or  a  "Log  Book." 
Such  a  book  is,  in  reality  a  Club  Diary.  In  it  is  written, 
in  an  informal  way,  the  story  of  the  special  events  of 
the  Club.  If  one  of  the  Club  girls  enjoys  writing,  the 
keeping  of  such  a  book  is  a  great  delight  to  her. 

Another  method  of  keeping  records  is  to  use  a  Club 
scrap  book.  A  Leader  of  a  large  New  York  Club  pastes 
in  her  scrap  book  a  sample  of  every  ticket,  circular, 
poster  or  notice  which  the  Club  has  sent  out.  Under 
the  ticket  she  writes: 

Number  ordered 

Cost  of  printing 

Sent  out 

Criticism 

The  criticism  which  is  written  under  each  entry  is 
especially  helpful.  If  too  many  tickets  were  ordered, 
she  makes  a  note  of  that.  If  there  was  some  omission 
in  the  printing  copy,  she  makes  a  note  of  that.  What- 
ever proves  wrong  in  any  of  the  Club's  printed  matter 
is  entered  in  the  scrap  book  at  once,  to  guard  against 
future  errors  of  the  same  kind.  In  the  scrap  book  are 
also  pasted  all  press  notices  which  have  appeared  con- 
cerning the  Club,  copies  of  all  original  plays,  songs,  verses 
and  other  "stunts"  figuring  on  the  Club  programs.  The 
Club  members  often  borrow  this  book  from  the  Leader 
to  read  again  the  story  of  the  big  events  of  other  years. 

"Once  you  have  started  a  scrap  book,"  this  Leader 
has  said,  "it  takes  little  time  to  keep  it  up.  And  it  is 
a  chart  and  compass  which  you  cannot  afford  to  be 
without,  once  you  have  used  it." 


THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  CLUB       103 

A  collection  of  pictures  is  an  interesting  record  for  a 
Club  to  keep.  Snapshots  of  hikes  and  picnics,  of  Club 
members — all  of  these  can  be  gathered  together  with 
little  expense  and  pasted  in  a  Club  album.  If  any  of 
the  Club  has  a  kodak  and  enjoys  taking  pictures,  the 
Club  may  appoint  her  its  "Official  Photographer."  Such' 
an  appointment  will  insure  pictures  for  the  Club,  when- 
ever pictures  are  possible. 

When  the  Club  gives  a  big  play  or  pageant,  a  pic- 
ture of  the  event  should  be  taken  by  a  professional 
photographer  if  the  Club  can  afford  it.  Such  pictures, 
framed  and  hanging  upon  the  wall  of  the  Club  room, 
become  a  center  of  special  interest.  Visitors  ask,  "When 
did  this  happen?"  And  the  Club  girls  tell  of  the  good 
time,  past,  now  but — "We'll  be  having  another  before 
long!"  A  Club  organizer  in  the  Middle  West  never 
allows  a  special  Club  event  to  pass  without  having  a 
picture  taken  of  it.  "My  girls  might  forget  all  about  a 
successful  play  if  we  didn't  have  a  picture. taken  of  it," 
she  has  said,  "but  I  have  found  that  pictures  of  past  suc- 
cesses are  a  constant  incentive  to  the  girls.  More  than 
this,  they  often  buy  a  copy  of  the  picture  to  take  to  their 
homes  for  their  families  and  friends  to  see.  The  ad- 
miration which  they  receive  there  stimulates  their  own 
interest  in  the  Club.  Pictures  are  an  excellent  form  of 
record  for  any  Club  to  have." 

The  Financial  Organization  of  the  Club 
Club  Leaders  are  agreed  that,  no  matter  what  the 
nature  of  the  Club  or  the  character  of  the  Club  members, 
the  girls  should  pay  definite  dues  and  work  for  the  finan- 
cial support  of  the  Club  insofar  as  they  are  able. 


io4  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

The  regular  income  of  a  Girls'  Club  is  derived  from 
the  payment  of  dues  and  from  any  special  means  which 
the  Club  selects.  The  amount  of  dues  varies,  some  Clubs 
paying  as  little  as  two  or  three  cents  a  week.  When 
the  Club  members  are  voting  upon  the  amount  which 
the  dues  shall  be,  great  care  should  be  exercised  to  make 
sure  that  the  amount  decided  upon  will  not  press  too 
heavily  upon  some  of  the  Club  members.  There  may 
be  some  girls  who  in  their  enthusiasm  call  loudly  for  a 
larger  amount  than  would  be  fair  to  the  Club  as  a 
whole.  The  girls  should  be  made  to  realize  that  the 
dues  are  to  be  paid  regularly,  month  after  month,  and 
should  therefore  not  be  so  large  that  they  will  soon  be- 
come a  burden  or,  perhaps,  even  beyond  the  powers  of 
the  Club  members  to  pay. 

Not  every  new  Club  Leader  sees  the  wisdom  in  having 
a  Club  policy  which  involves  financial  support  from  the 
girls  themselves.  The  girls  in  the  Club  are  in  poor 
circumstances  and  there  may  be  people  who  will  gladly 
contribute  all  that  is  needed  for  the  Club  work.  It  is 
a  fact  in  Girls'  Club  work  that  the  Club  members  appre- 
ciate more  that  for  which  they  have  worked  and  which 
represents  the  results  of  their  own  efforts  than  they 
do  that  which  is  given  to  them  without  effort  on  their 
part.  A  Club  Leader  in  a  large  factory  was  once  leading 
the  Factory  Head  through  the  Recreation  Room.  A 
number  of  the  girls  were  standing  near  by. 

"These  are  the  girls  who  have  been  earning  money 
to  buy  a  piano  for  the  room,"  said  the  Club  Leader, 
smiling.  "They  have  been  working  for  a  year,,  giving 
sales  and  entertainments,  and  soon  they  will  have 
enough." 


THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  CLTJB       105 

The  Factory  Head  stopped.  "Why,  I  will  give  the 
piano,"  he  said,  "I'll  get  it  up  here  to-day.  Why  didn't 
you  tell  me  you  wanted  one  ?" 

To  his  surprise,  this  plan  did  not  arouse  great  en- 
thusiasm among  the  girls. 

When  he  and  the  Club  Leader  left  the  room,  he  asked : 
"Now,  what  was  the  matter?  Didn't  they  want  that 
piano  ?" 

The  Club  Leader  smiled.  "You  took  away  their  in- 
centive," she  said.  "That  piano,  bought  with  the  money 
they  themselves  earned,  would  represent  real  Club 
achievement.  They  could  point,  to  it  with  pride,  a  big 
thing  they  themselves  had  done.  Your  gift  will  mean 
your  kindness  to  them,  and  they  will  be  grateful,  but  it 
is  not  quite  the  same." 

So  it  is  that  the  Club  which  has  a  well-defined  finan- 
cial policy  resting  upon  active  support  from  the  girls 
will  hold  their  loyalty  because  it  is  a  possession  of  their 
own.  When  the  amount  of  the  dues  has  been  decided 
upon,  and  a  Treasurer  elected,  every  effort  should  be 
made  to  have  the  financial  part  of  the  Club  work  car- 
ried on  in  a  business-like  way.  The  Treasurer  may  have 
a  receipt  book,  issuing  receipts  to  all  paying  their  dues. 
The  Club  Treasurer  should  be  encouraged  at  all  times 
to  have  a  model  treasurer's  book  ready  for  inspection 
by  the  Club  whenever  they  wish  to  consult  it.  The  Na- 
tional League  of  Women  Workers,  New  York  City,  has 
issued  a  Model  Treasurer's  book  for  Girls'  Clubs,  show- 
ing models  for  the  monthly  cash  account,  a  financial 
report  for  any  money-making  entertainment,  a  financial 
report  for  any  class  with  a  special  fee,  a  model  for  the 
loan  accounts  of  the  Club,  the  annual  report,  and  the 


io6 


GIRLS'  CLUBS 

MODEL  FOR  CLUB'S 

This  account  should  run  from  one  Business 

just  before  the  Business 

carried  over  to 

APRIL  RECEIPTS 


BANK 


CASE 


April   5  —  from  dues  

6  20 

April   5  —  from  Initiation  Fees  

20 

April   6  —  total  from  Play  (pp  20) 

99  95 

Cash  total  to  date  

i  in  in 

April   7  —  Deposited  to  Bank  Account 
Cash  remaining   

56.00 

11U.  1U 

54  10 

April  16—  Profit  Cooking  Class  (pp.  30) 
April  19  —  from  Dues 

.27 
.10 

April  26  —  from  Dues 

.20 

April  29  —  Loan  received  (pp.  40) 

15  00 

May    2  —  Subletting  room  

1.00 

TOTAL  RECEIPTS  

71.00 

55.67 
71.00 
126.67 

TOTAL  EXPENSES  

122.75 

Balance  on  hand  Mav  4. 

S  3.92 

(Carry  this  balance  to  next  left-hand  page  to  May  account 
and  enter  it  as  April  5  above) 

(When  reading  report  at  Business  Meeting  have  listed 
below  any  money  due  club) 
CLUB  ASSETS 

For  subletting  room  April  26 1 . 00  bill  sent 

"  "    April  27 1.00      "    " 

The  Treasurer  shall  be  prepared  to  give  upon  request  a 
detaikd  report  of  any  receipt  or  expenditure  mentioned  in 
the  Monthly  Report  of  these  two  pages,  as  for  instance: — 
"April  6  Total  of  Play." 

Her  parenthesis  "(see  pp.  20)"  shows  where  such  de- 
tailed report  is  to  be  found. 

A  Page  from  the  "  Model  Treasurer's  Book  for  Girla* 


'THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  CLUB      107 
MONTHLY  CASH  ACCOUNT 

Meeting  to  the  next.    It  should  be  balanced 

Meeting,  and  balance  be 

start  next  page. 

APRIL  EXPENDITURES 
April  6— Total  Cost  Play  (pp.  21) 
April   7 — Loan  of  Jan.  repaid  (pp.  41) . . 
April  10 — Rent,  March  and  April 
April  30— Last  payment  on  piano 


TOTAL  EXPENSE . .         . .  122 . 75 


)  

CHECK 

CASH 

52  75 

>.  41)  ... 

10.00 
40  00 



20.00 

70.00 

52.75 
70.00 

If,  instead  of  a  balance,  the  club  is  in  debt  when  these 
two  pages  are  closed  before  the  Business  Meeting,  the 
amount  of  money  which  may  actually  be  in  the  Treasury 
may  still  be  shown  as  a  balance  on  the  left-hand  page,  but 
the  list  of  debts  on  this  page  will  present  a  larger  total,  and 
in  such  a  case  the  Treasurer  should  call  the  attention  of 
the  Business  Meeting  of  this  fact.  The  amount  which  the 
balance  will  not  cover  is  known  as  the  DEFICIT. 


(List  below  unpaid  bills  to  date) 
CLUB  DEBTS 

Electric  light  for  April ?  bill  not  received 

Piano  tuner 2.50 

Loan  received  April  29 15.00 

Clubs. ' '    National  League  of  Women  Workers. 


io8  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

record  of  individual  dues  paid.  A  study  of  such  prac- 
tical helps  as  this  gives  the  Treasurer  a  standard  upon 
which  she  may  model  her  own  books.  Such  practise 
gives  her  valuable  training  in  business  methods. 

Sources  of  income  other  than  dues  are  numerous. 
Plays,  entertainments  and  fairs  at  which  an  admission 
fee  is  charged,  add  to  the  Club's  treasury.  When  a 
special  class  is  given  under  Club  auspices,  it  is  often 
possible  to  charge  a  small  fee  for  admission  to  the  class. 
In  some  Girls'  Clubs,  money  has  been  added  to  the 
treasury  by  the  promise  of  each  Club  member  to  earn 
a  certain  amount  for  the  Club.  In  one  Club,  each  girl 
was  given  ten  cents  from  which  she  was  to  earn  at 
least  one  dollar.  One  girl  bought  some  thread  and  made 
lace  which  she  sold.  Another  girl  bought  seeds  which 
she  planted  in  her  garden.  Simple  plans  such  as  this 
often  stimulate  the  girls  to  unthought-of  endeavors  and 
teach  them  the  value  of  money.  Such  experience  is 
valuable  to  girls  in  their  training  for  future  responsi- 
bilities. Ability  to  earn  money,  to  spend  it  wisely,  and 
to  keep  a  careful  account  of  it  is  an  asset  every  girl 
should  have. 

Many  organizations  encourage  such  practise  in  the  use 
of  Club  funds  by  plans  which  involve  the  direct  ex- 
penditure of  money  from  the  Club  treasury.  In  Hull 
House,  the  Clubs  pay  a  small  rental  for  the  use  of  their 
Club  room  and  the  light.  If  they  give  an  entertainment, 
they  pay  rental  for  the  theater  or  hall.  In  the  College 
Settlement,  New  York  City,  a  self-supporting  experiment 
has  been  carried  on  at  Mount  Ivy,  the  summer  camping 
site.  The  Settlement  gives  the  use  of  the  land  and  the 
individual  Club  provides  the  shelter  and  equipment  for 


THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  CLUB       109 

its  own  Camp.  The  camping  parties  are  self-supporting, 
getting  their  own  breakfasts,  washing  their  own  dishes 
and  keeping  their  own  Camp  in  order.  Dinner  and 
supper  are  prepared  in  the  central  kitchen  and  distributed 
at  cost  to  the  various  groups.  The  Clubs  who  have  these 
camps  have  "Camp  Funds"  toward  which  they  pay  dues. 
When  the  financial  ways  and  means  have  been  decided 
upon  for  the  Club,  the  next  problem  before  the  members 
is  the  division  of  the  total  amount,  in  short,  the  con- 
sideration of  the  Club  budget.  Each  committee  will  wish 
to  know  the  amount  of  money  which  it  can  spend  for 
its  work.  The  regular  expenses  of  the  Club  must  be 
met.  Other  special  interests  will  claim  the  attention  of 
the  Club  from  time  to  time.  Can  the  Club  afford  them? 
A  carefully  planned  budget  will  show  this.  After  a 
Club  has  been  in  existence  for  a  year  or  more,  the  plan- 
ning of  a  budget  becomes  a  comparatively  easy  task. 
The  receipts  and  expenditures  of  the  preceding  year  are 
an  excellent  basis  for  estimating  what  the  Club  can  and 
should  do  in  the  coming  year.  Some  girls'  Clubs  have 
successfully  followed  the  plan  of  opening  a  bank  account 
at  a  local  bank,  and  of  paying  their  financial  obligations 
by  check.  Such  a  plan  trains  the  Club  girls  in  the  use 
of  those  business  resources  upon  which  they  will  call  in 
later  life  for  their  own  transactions. 

The  Standard  Club 

The  plan  of  having  certain  definite  requirements  which 
a  Club  must  meet  before  it  is  a  "Standard  Club"  has 
been  an  incentive  for  the  individual  Clubs  in  our  large 
girls'  organizations.  A  Club  is  not  recognized  as  a  Club 


no  GIRLS*  CLUBS 

unless  the  percentage  of  attendance  is  high ;  the  business 
meetings  held  regularly;  the  dues  paid  promptly;  the 
committee  reports  made  punctually;  the  projects  of  the 
Club  carried  to  their  logical  conclusions.  When  a  Club 
has  met  the  outlined  requirements  (whatever  they  may 
be)  it  is  admitted  to  the  Settlement  Council,  or  the  City 
Federation,  or  the  larger  organization. 

Wherever  a  number  of  Clubs  are  united  through  inter- 
Club  organization,  the  establishment  of  such  a  standard 
is  an  incentive  to  the  girls.  Other  Clubs  will  do  the 
required  work  and  receive  recognition.  Shall  theirs  fall 
behind?  Even  the  Club  which  is  working  independently, 
without  definite  inclusion  in  some  larger  organization, 
can  set  for  itself  a  standard  which  should  be  attained  by 
the  end  of  the  year. 

Perhaps  no  other  phase  of  Club  work  requires  such 
persistent,  steady  effort  as  does  working  for  a  business- 
like organization  within  the  Club.  It  is  a  part  of  the 
Club  work  which  must  go  on,  week  after  week.  It  in- 
volves definite  results  from  the  girls  in  which  they  some- 
times waver.  But  the  Club  Leader  who  persists  and 
who  succeeds  in  putting  the  Club  upon  a  business  basis 
is  helping  to  develop  in  her  Club  girls  those  habits  of 
organization,  of  thoroughness,  and  of  reliability  which 
will  make  of  them  valuable  citizens,  whether  in  their  own 
homes  or  out  in  the  world  of  industry. 


CHAPTER  V 

PLANNING  THE  YEAR'S  PROGRAM  OF  THE 

CLUB 

The  Need  for  a  Program 

EVERY  Club  which  has  for  its  aim  the  broadest  possible 
service  both  to  its  Club  members  and  to  the  community 
where  it  works  should  have  a  well-planned  program  for 
the  year's  activities — a  program  which,  step  by  step, 
works  toward  the  ultimate  purpose  of  the  Club.  Rely- 
ing on  the  inspiration  of  the  moment  often  results  in 
a  scattering  of  energy  and  a  waning  interest  on  the  part 
of  the  girls:  a  carefully  planned  program  leads  toward 
definite  accomplishment.  A  plan  for  activities,  which 
extends  over  several  weeks,  months,  or  even  over  the 
entire  year  holds  the  girls'  attention  and  causes  them 
to  regard  the  work  of  the  Club  as  highly  important. 
Finally,  careful  plans  may  be  made  to  bring  that  neces- 
sary variety  in  activities  which  girls  so  often  crave. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  make  such  a  program  for  the 
Club's  activities.  The  Leader  and  the  girls  know  the 
number  of  meetings  which  they  will  hold  in  a  given 
time.  Each  autumn  they  can  look  ahead  and  plan  the 
work  which  they  wish  to  accomplish  before  the  next 
autumn ;  or  they  can  map  out  their  activities  for  six  months 

in 


ii2  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

ahead.  The  Camp  Fire  Manual  suggests  that  the  Camp 
Fire  Girls  plan  their  meetings  definitely  for  two  months 
at  a  time.  The  Business  Girls'  Clubs  of  the  Young 
Women's  Christian  Association  recommend  that  the  pro- 
gram be  planned  at  least  six  months  in  advance.  What- 
ever unit  of  time  is  used,  the  work  as  a  whole  can  be 
divided  among  the  number  of  meetings  to  be  held  and 
the  Club  girls  will  see  just  how  much  each  meeting  must 
contribute  to  the  desired  results. 

The  purpose  of  having  a  definite  program  is  to  steer 
the  Club  past  the  shoals  of  irresponsibility  and  wavering 
and  toward  accomplishment.  This  chapter,  and  succeed- 
ing ones,  will  present  the  ways  in  which  some  Leaders 
have  worked  to  plan  a  program,  and  the  means  by  which 
they  have  made  the  Club  activities  of  vital  interest  to 
the  members. 

When  the  Club  year  is  opening,  the  girls  themselves 
will  have  many  plans  which  they  wish  to  carry  out. 
The  Leader,  too,  should  have  desirable  plans  to  suggest. 
From  these  plans  and  suggestions,  the  year's  program 
of  activities  is  to  be  made.  The  majority  may  wish  to 
have  a  certain  course  of  study,  to  hold  a  certain  number 
of  parties,  to  give  an  entertainment.  A  committee  of 
the  girls,  working  in  cooperation  with  the  Leader,  can 
estimate  the  number  of  weeks  over  which  each  of  the 
desired  activities  will  extend.  Any  plan  which  is  made 
for  the  entire  year  can  be  tentative,  to  be  changed  if 
new  activities  seem  more  desirable  than  those  originally 
decided  upon.  Certain  plans  in  operation  may  not  prove 
so  suitable  for  a  Club  as  they  seemed  in  the  discussion. 
Although  it  is  undoubtedly  far  wiser  to  complete  a  piece 
of  work  once  it  has  been  entered  upon,  it  is  often  best 


PLANNING  THE  YEAR'S  PROGRAM       113 

to  continue  on  a  certain  line  of  work  rather  than  to 
shift  to  one  scheduled  by  the  committee  in  charge. 

"Let's  study  more  Shakespeare/'  begged  a  Club  at  the 
close  of  a  certain  course.  Other  work  had  been  planned, 
but  the  girls'  eager  interest  caused  the  Leader  to  arrange 
for  further  study  in  the  desired  subject. 

In  all  Clubs,  and  more  especially  in  those  which  are 
just  starting,  the  plans  which  the  Leader  has  to  suggest 
are  of  greatest  importance.  The  final  decision  as  to 
what  each  Club  is  to  do  will  rest  with  the  wishes  of  the 
majority  of  the  members.  The  Leader  has  a  share  in 
shaping  the  policy  of  the  year's  work,  however,  for,  as 
a  fellow-member,  she  can  suggest  plans  which  seem  suit- 
able to  her.  Often,  too,  the  girls  will  have  little  or  no 
idea  of  what  their  Club  can  do  at  its  meetings.  The 
Leader's  ideas  are  welcomed,  and  the  final  decision  of 
the  girls  will  often  be  in  reality  but  an  exercise  of  choice 
among  the  plans  which  the  Leader  herself  has  offered. 

Every  Leader,  then,  should  make  a  careful  study  of 
her  own  group  of  girls  and  be  ready  at  all  times  with 
good  suggestions  for  activities.  The  following  aspects 
of  a  situation  are  important  in  all  kinds  of  Girls'  Club 
work  and  a  consideration  of  them  by  the  Leader  will 
be  helpful  in  planning  work  adapted  to  a  particular 
group,  and  will  often  suggest  to  her  what  activities  will 
be  practicable  and  enjoyable  for  her  own  girls. 

The  Right  Kind  of  Program— What  to  Consider 

1.  Personal  Considerations,     i.  What  is  the  average 
age  of  the  Club  girls? 

2.  What  is  their  home  and  school  environment? 


ii4  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

3.  What  is  their  nationality  ? 

4.  What  has  been  their  education  and  what  is  their 
average  intelligence? 

5.  If  business  girls,  what  are  their  occupations? 

6.  What  do  they  wish  to  do  in  the  Club  ? 

II.  Club  Considerations.     I.  How  many  meetings  are 
to  be  held  during  a  month  ?    A  year  ? 

2.  How  long  are  the  meetings  to  be? 

3.  How  much  money  can  be  spent  for  the  Club  work  ? 

III.  The  Age  Consideration.    The  age  of  the  girls  will 
greatly  influence  their  choice  of  activity.     Very  young 
girls  prefer  active  occupations:  lively  games,  songs,  and 
dances  give  a  healthful  outlet  for  their  bubbling  spirits. 
There  is  a  great  charm  for  them  in  winning  emblems 
for  certain  attainments,  and  in  symbolism.     One  reason 
for  the  success  of  the  Camp  Fire  movement  undoubtedly 
lies  in  its  appeal  to  the  imagination  of  the  young  girl. 
As   the  girls   grow   older,   their   interests   develop   and 
broaden.     If  the  Club  is  to  grow,  the  activities  of  the 
Club  must  meet  and  stimulate  those  interests. 

The  Girls'  Work  Committee  of  the  Association  of 
Neighborhood  Workers,  New  York  City,  has  contributed 
the  following  age  divisions,  with  suggestions  as  to  the 
dominant  characteristics  of  each. 

First  Group.  Six  to  ten  years.  At  this  age,  children 
are  essentially  individualistic.  The  kindergarten  plan 
in  the  main  is  followed,  and  group  spirit  is  gradually 
developed  through  games,  manual  work  and  stories. 

Second  Group.  Ten  to  fourteen  years.  The  dominant 
note  to  strike  with  this  group  is  a  development  of  their 
altruistic  impulses :  interest  in  persons  outside  their  own 
group — the  settlement,  the  camp,  the  hospital,  the  district 


PLANNING  THE  YEAR'S  PROGRAM        115 

nurse,  shut-ins,  etc.  Much  stronger  group  spirit  is 
noticeable.  Here  we  see  the  beginning  of  Club  organ- 
ization: the  simpler  the  better.  The  simplest  sort  of 
business  meeting,  carried  on  with  formality,  is  very  im- 
portant in  its  teaching  of  self-control  and  respect  for 
law,  order,  and  justice.  Train  the  Club  to  sustain  in- 
terest :  finish  whatever  work  or  game  they  have  begun — 
guard  against  restless  shifting. 

Third  Group.  Fifteen  to  eighteen  years.  The  funda- 
mental idea  here  should  be  to  fit  the  girl  for  the  larger 
life — for  the  business  world  and  for  civic  interests.  At 
this  age,  a  bird's-eye  view  of  civic  interests  may  be  given. 
Glorify  the  home  and  their  relation  to  it.  Develop  home 
instincts,  and  discuss  fully  their  coming  responsibilities 
in  home-making,  the  efficiency  and  the  ideals  necessary 
in  such  work. 

Senior  Group.  Eighteen  years  and  upward.  The  key- 
note here  is  the  subordination  of  the  individualistic 
group-feeling  to  the  larger,  more  representative  organ- 
izations existing  about  them. 

IV.  Home  Environment  as  a  Consideration.  Although 
there  is  a  certain  similarity  in  all  activities  which  appeal 
to  girls  of  a  certain  age,  no  matter  what  their  home 
environment,  still  the  latter  factor  will  have  a  large  share 
in  determining  what  activities  it  is  well  to  emphasize 
with  each  group.  Clubs  are  organized  among  Secondary 
School  girls,  and  plans  have  been  suggested  for  them; 
but  the  Secondary  School  girls  in  one  city  district  come 
from  refined  and  cultured  homes — in  another,  they  are 
from  squalid  tenements,  where  home  training  is  either 
non-existent  or  far  from  wise  and  helpful,  and  where 
opportunities  for  development  are  limited.  So  it  is  that 


n6  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

the  activities  in  Clubs  made  up  of  girls  from  the  latter 
kind  of  homes  must  often  be  directed  to  supply  the  good 
elements  of  personal  training  which  are  lacking  in  their 
lives. 

Among  Clubs  composed  of  girls  of  foreign  birth,  it 
is  found  that  the  simplest  American  games  and  class- 
activities  are  full  of  charm;  whereas  in  Clubs  organized 
among  girls  who  have  enjoyed  every  opportunity  for 
development,  the  Club  life  gives  these  an  opportunity 
to  do  something  for  other  girls  less  fortunate.  The 
country  girl  often  suffers  from  loneliness,  isolation  and 
a  great  longing  for  the  books  which  are  easily  available 
to  her  city  sister;  thus  her  country  Club  becomes  the 
means  through  which  she  is  supplied  with  that  which 
the  community  gives  freely  to  the  city  lass. 

V.  Nationality  as  a  Consideration.  In  a  Club  composed 
of  girls  of  one  nationality,  dominant  racial  characteristics 
will  often  determine  the  kind  of  activities  in  which  the  girls 
will  be  interested  and  which  they  should  have.  A  young 
librarian  who  wished  to  organize  a  Book  Club  among 
the  Jewish  girls  of  a  certain  tenement  district  was  amazed 
to  find  her  Club  members  asking  to  study  the  most 
advanced  modern  drama,  starting,  preferably,  with  Ibsen ! 
Many  a  Club  Leader  has  had  just  such  an  experience 
in  working  among  Jewish  girls,  finding  them  alert, 
progressive,  and  eager  to  learn.  Activities  of  real 
educational  value  appeal  to  them,  and  they  will  work 
energetically  upon  the  things  which  they  feel  are  helping 
them  to  help  themselves.  Miss  Harriet  Daniels,  in  her 
book,  "The  Girl  and  Her  Chance,"  has  characterized 
this  problem  of  nationality  in  the  Club  as  follows :  "With 
the  Jewish  young  people,  literary  meetings,  dramatics, 


PLANNING  THE  YEAR'S  PROGRAM        117 

and  debates  are  popular;  among  the  Italians  and  the 
Slavic  races  we  find  manual  work  popular;  while  the 
Irish  and  the  American  girls  are  more  inclined  to  an 
evening  of  fun.  But  special  stress  should  be  laid  on  the 
necessity  of  every  Club's  doing  something  of  real  value 
if  it  be  only  for  fifteen  minutes.  It  is  all  too  easy  to 
spend  the  evening  in  a  social  good  time,  and  (on  occa- 
sion) this  is  right  and  wise;  but  to  let  week  after  week 
slip  by  with  nothing  done  but  dancing  is  neither  wise 
nor  right." 

The  prevailing  nationality  of  her  girls  often  gives  the 
Leader  an  opportunity  to  group  Club  activities  about  the 
mother-country.  Its  traditions  and  folk-lore  form  an 
excellent  basis  for  a  story-telling  hour.  Often  the  parents 
of  the  girls  can  give  them  a  great  deal  of  interesting 
material,  and  are  delighted  to  be  able  to  tell  the  old 
stories  again.  The  songs  of  the  mother-country,  its  folk 
dances,  and  its  costumes,  all  these  can  be  used  in  the 
Club  activities ;  and,  through  their  use  the  girls  come  to 
have  a  greater  reverence  for  the  land  of  their  fore- 
fathers and  a  greater  respect  for  their  own  parents,  who 
may  not  be  "stylish"  but  who  have  noble  traditions  be- 
hind them. 

VI.  Occupation  as  a  Consideration.  When  the  mem- 
bers are  those  who  have  gone  out  into  the  business  world, 
the  kind  of  occupation  in  which  they  are  engaged  will 
often  influence  the  Club's  program.  A  thoughtful  Leader 
will  see  that  a  girl  who  is  engaged  in  a  certain  occupa- 
tion day  after  day  will  find  more  actual  benefit  in  some 
kinds  of  activity  than  in  others.  There  are  girls  em- 
ployed in  factories,  girls  whose  powers  of  relaxation  and 
sociability  have  often  been  dulled  by  the  mechanical 


n8  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

work  in  which  they  engage ;  the  hours  of  fun  and  games 
at  the  Club  may  supply  just  what  these  girls  most  need. 
The  National  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Industrial 
Education,  in  its  Bulletin  Number  23,  has  made  a  number 
of  valuable  suggestions  concerning  this  problem.  Among 
the  types  of  employment  which  restrict  the  movements  of 
the  body  during  the  working  hours  are: 

1.  Hand  sewing  or  machine  sewing;  typewriting; 

operating  an  automatic  machine,  such  as  an 
envelope  machine  or  a  box-making  machine. 
In  these  occupations,  the  worker  sits  all  day 
with  little  change  of  position. 

2.  Laundry  work ;  selling  in  a  store ;  packing  goods 

in  a  factory.  In  these  occupations,  the  worker 
stands  all  day  with  little  change  of  position. 

Workers   in   the    foregoing   occupations   should   have 
recreative  courses  from  one  of  the  following  groups : 

1.  Gymnastics  and  drills ;  games  for  free  play  and 

cooperation;  folk  dances  suited  to  age  and 
interests  of  the  class;  social  dancing,  accord- 
ing to  the  customs  of  the  community ;  camping 
and  walking  trips  such  as  those  of  the  Girl 
Scouts  and  the  Camp  Fire  Girls. 

2.  Athletics,  including  basketball,  hand  ball,  tennis 

and  swimming,  for  those  who  are  physically 
able  to  endure  these  vigorous  types  of  recrea- 
tion. 

3.  Study  of  personal  hygiene  and  health  problems. 

This  instruction  may  be  given  incidentally  in 


PLANNING  THE  YEAR'S  PROGRAM       119 

connection  with  cookery  and  clothing  courses. 
Care  should  be  taken  to  stimulate  interest  in 
good  health  as  a  business  and  social  asset. 

Both  store  workers,  meeting  the  general  public  con- 
stantly, and  office  secretaries,  to  whom  have  fallen  ex- 
ecutive tasks,  may  require  intellectual  stimulus  in  their 
Club  activities.  Their  daily  occupations  have  developed 
in  them  poise,  alertness,  and  desire  to  learn;  and  the 
Club  activities  must  be  adapted  to  meet  their  development. 
Acquaintance  with  the  Club  members  and  discussions 
with  them  will  soon  show  to  a  Leader  what  their  out- 
look upon  life  is  and  what  are  their  greatest  needs. 

VII.  Length  of  Meetings  as  a  Consideration.  In 
choosing  from  the  multitude  of  activities  in  which  her 
Club  may  engage,  a  Leader  must  necessarily  keep  in 
mind  the  amount  of  time  needed  for  the  successful  com- 
pletion of  each.  Some  Clubs  meet  more  frequently  and 
have  longer  meetings  than  others.  They  can  do  the 
longer  plays,  the  more  elaborate  class  work.  To  under- 
take a  greater  amount  of  work  than  can  be  accomplished 
in  the  given  time  is  most  discouraging  to  the  Club. 
Careful  preliminary  planning,  however,  often  makes  pos- 
sible great  accomplishment. 

One  Leader,  whose  girls  met  but  once  a  week  during 
their  lunch  hour,  carried  on  a  large  number  of  activities 
as  follows :  The  Club  had  officers  and  committees,  with 
regular  business  meetings  to  carry  on  the  work;  Club 
songs  and  cheers;  games;  musical  drills;  folk  dances; 
and  even  short,  informal  plays.  These  varied  activi- 
ties were  all  carried  out  during  the  lunch  time  of  the 
girls,  and  after  they  had  eaten  their  lunches.  The 


120  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

Leader  was  always  ready  for  the  Club  meeting,  before 
any  of  the  girls  appeared,  and  was  prepared  to  help 
with  the  rapid  execution  of  all  plans.  Because  it  was 
impossible  to  assemble  all  her  girls  at  a  certain  hour, 
and  because  the  time  of  their  arrival  often  stretched 
over  a  period  of  five  minutes,  the  first  part  of  the  half- 
hour  Club  meeting  was  devoted  to  learning  and  singing 
Club  songs.  The  continuous  arrival  of  the  girls  did  not 
interrupt  this  activity,  as  it  would  have  interrupted  a 
folk-dancing  lesson,  for  instance.  When  a  goodly  num- 
ber of  the  members  had  gathered  together,  the  Club  work 
of  the  day  was  introduced.  If  a  folk-dance  was  being 
learned,  old  steps  were  reviewed,  and  new  ones  were 
added  to  the  whole.  If  a  special  program  or  entertain- 
ment was  being  prepared,  the  Club  work  took  the  form 
of  a  rehearsal.  If  a  business  meeting  was  to  be  held, 
the  necessary  business  was  transacted.  The  regular 
schedule  of  this  lunch-hour  Club  was  somewhat  as  fol- 
lows: 

(a)  Five  Minutes. — Club  singing,  around  the  piano. 

(b)  Fifteen  or  Twenty  Minutes. — Club  work;  Folk 
dancing;  or  Drills;  or  a  Business  Meeting;  or  Story- 
Telling. 

(c)  Five  to  Ten  Minutes. — Dancing  or  Games;  Club 
Singing. 

The  amount  of  time  which  could  be  devoted  in  this 
Club  to  each  part  of  the  work  seems  very  limited.  The 
key  to  such  progress  lay  in  careful  and  thorough  prepa- 
ration, not  only  of  the  yearly  plan,  but  also  of  the  plan 
for  each  meeting,  and  in  the  consequent  rapid  execution 
of  each  plan. 


(Photo  by  Eddowes  Co.) 

SUNSHINE,  FRESH  AIR,  AND  EXERCISE  FOR  OUR  GIRLS 

A  Camp  Fire  Group 


(Photo  by  Eddowes  Co.) 

"  OVER  THE  HILLS  AND  FAR  AWAY  " 

A  Camp  Fire  Hike 


PLANNING  THE  YEAR'S  PROGRAM       121 

The  Right  Kind  of  Program — Formulating  It 

With  such  considerations  as  these  in  mind,  and  with 
a  choice  of  desirable  activities  made  accordingly,  a  Leader 
can  go  to  the  Club  meeting,  prepared  to  give  good  advice 
concerning  the  plan  for  the  year.  Some  Clubs  may  at 
first  rely  largely  upon  the  Leader  and  her  suggestions. 
As  a  Club  develops  and  the  girls  come  to  see  what  can 
be  done  in  the  meetings,  their  own  suggestions  become 
more  numerous  and  should  be  welcomed.  Sometimes 
the  girls'  ideas  are  vague.  The  Leader  can  take  them 
and  develop  them  into  possible  activities.  In  Hull  House, 
Chicago,  one  group  of  girls  came  to  the  workers  asking 
to  be  organized  into  a  "Club  where  we  may  learn  to 
vote."  The  Leader  of  this  Club  made  a  special  point  of 
Club  organization  and  parliamentary  order  in  its  meet- 
ings. The  little  group  of  Jewish  girls  who  applied  knew 
little  of  organization  or  of  parliamentary  law.  Their 
Leader  saw  that  emphasis  along  these  lines  would  give 
them  what  they  desired;  and  the  program  of  the  Club 
was  laid  down  accordingly. 

Again,  the  suggestions  made  by  the  Club  members  are 
not  always  practical  or  desirable.  Where  such  ideas  are 
elaborate  or  unsuitable,  the  tactful  Leader  can  point  out 
the  difficulties.  If  she  presents  her  objections  reasonably 
and  forcibly,  the  majority  of  the  girls  will  respond  to 
the  appeal  and  will  relinquish  the  idea. 

"I  always  try  never  to  say  'No'  arbitrarily,"  a  Girls' 
Club  Leader  in  New  England  once  remarked.  "And  I 
never  say  it  until  I  have  exhausted  every  appeal  to  rea- 
son. By  giving  the  girls  my  objections,  I  make  them 
consider  the  practical  side  of  every  idea.  This  trains 


122  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

them  to  think.  Moreover,  if  they  can  be  made  to  see 
certain  definite  objections  as  to  why  a  favorite  plan 
cannot  be  used,  almost  invariably  they  will  pleasantly 
drop  all  consideration  of  it." 

Another  Club  Leader  has  made  it  her  policy  to  use 
every  suggestion  of  her  Club  girls,  if  at  all  possible, 
enlarging  upon  it  whenever  necessary.  "Let's  take 
walks,"  remarked  one  of  her  Club  girls  one  day.  This 
Leader  at  once  seized  upon  the  opportunity  to  suggest 
walks  to  interesting  near-by  parts  of  the  city.  The  girls 
at  once  planned  the  points  which  they  would  enjoy  visit- 
ing. A  city  guide-book  gave  others.  Before  each  walk, 
the  Club  studied  interesting  facts  about  the  place  which 
they  were  to  visit.  The  Leader  provided  some  sug- 
gestive material  and  referred  the  Club  members  to  books 
in  the  Public  Library.  This  adaptation  of  a  chance 
suggestion  from  a  member  brought  the  girls  into  touch 
with  local  history.  It  gave  them  civic  interest,  as  well 
as  excellent  exercise.  There  are  often  just  such  possi- 
bilities hidden  in  the  girls'  suggestions.  A  resourceful 
Leader  can  discover  and  use  them.  And  the  girls  with 
whom  the  ideas  originated  feel  a  still  greater  sense  of 
proprietorship  in  the  Club  whose  program  they  have 
helped  to  form. 

Fundamental  Essentials  Common  in  All  Clubs 

There  are  several  kinds  of  Club  activity  which  seem 
to  exist  in  most  successful  Girls'  Clubs,  among  younger 
girls  and  older  girls,  in  city  Clubs  and  country  Clubs, 
with  American  girls  and  foreign-born:  the  kind  of  ac- 
tivities which  are  largely  helpful  in  creating  a  spirit  of 


PLANNING  THE  YEAR'S  PROGRAM       1*3 

fellowship,  sociability,  and  loyalty  to  the  Club — in  short, 
they  are  those  activities  which  produce  "Club  Spirit,"  and 
which  can  be  introduced  into  every  Club,  no  matter  what 
its  purpose. 

Club  Singing.  What  fun  it  is  to  gather  around  the 
piano  and  sing  the  songs  which  have  been  written  for 
the  Club,  to  tunes  which  the  members  love!  What 
fun  it  is,  if  you  are  a  Club  member,  to  write  the  words 
yourself,  and,  afterward,  hear  your  own  Club  sing  the 
very  song  upon  which  you  yourself  worked !  In  helping 
the  girls  with  their  choice  of  tunes  to  be  used,  a  Leader 
may  do  much  to  improve  the  girls'  musical  taste  by 
pointing  out  the  difference  between  the  good  and  the 
bad  in  the  popular  tunes  of  the  day.  Nor  is  current 
music  the  only  kind  which  can  be  used  for  Club  songs. 
Many  stirring  "classical"  melodies  are  admirably  adapted 
to  Club  songs,  and  Leaders  have  stimulated  the  use  of 
such  by  announcing  a  Word  Contest,  whose  purpose  is 
to  determine  which  girls  can  write  the  most  appropriate 
Club  words  to  a  given  tune. 

The  girls  learn  these  songs  in  meeting,  and  go  out 
from  the  Club  singing  them.  They  sing  them  at  home 
for  their  friends,  showing  that  their  Club  is  "like  the 
big  colleges,"  with  songs  all  their  own.  The  Camp  Fire 
Manual  says  that  "singing  together  is  essential  for  the 
developing  of  team-spirit.  A  successful  Council  Fire 
cannot  be  held  without  it." 

Where  a  number  of  Clubs  are  affiliated,  as  in  a  City 
Federation,  a  Settlement,  or  a  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  inter-Club 
singing  contests  have  proved  most  enjoyable.  All  the 
Club  members  can  take  active  part  in  a  contest  of  this 
kind.  Often  its  chief  interest  has  centered  in  the  original 


i24  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

songs  which  each  Club  has  written.  Before  such  a  con- 
test, each  Club  has  been  busily  preparing  a  song  which 
will  be  worthy  of  its  name.  On  the  competition  night, 
these  are  judged  on  the  appropriateness  of  the  tune 
selected,  on  the  words,  and  on  their  rendering  of  the 
song.  To  the  winning  Club  may  go  a  "Song  Contest" 
banner,  to  be  hung  upon  the  walls  of  the  Club  Room 
until  wrested  from  them  by  another  Club  in  some  future 
contest. 

The  Club  which  has  singing  as  one  of  its  Club  activities 
is  ready  to  do  its  part  in  big  community  celebrations. 
Community  Christmas-tree  celebrations,  now  prevalent  in 
many  places  are  characterized  by  Christmas  carols;  the 
Club  girls  may  have  their  share  in  making  these  carols 
a  success.  Big  "Community  Sings"  are  becoming  more 
and  more  popular,  and,  where  they  are  held,  every  organ- 
ized group  which  can  help  is  welcomed.  The  Girls'  Club 
which  is  ready  can  in  this  way  help  its  community. 

Cheers,  too,  arouse  great  enthusiasm.  To  Clubs  which 
have  teams  sent  out  to  play  with  those  of  other  organiza- 
tions, these  cheers  may  be  said  to  be  a  practical  necessity ! 
A  Club  well-equipped  with  songs  and  cheers  is  prepared 
for  any  public  appearance.  Wherever  it  goes  in  a  body, 
it  can  respond  to  a  sudden  call  for  a  "stunt"  or  a  "sing." 

The  Social  Interlude.  Every  Club  can  have  its  short 
times  of  sociability.  In  Clubs  where  little  time  is  given 
to  recreational  activity,  this  is  especially  necessary.  A 
little  dancing,  a  few  games — these  help  in  getting  the  Club 
members  together  in  an  informal  way.  One  large  Club, 
active  chiefly  in  class  work,  had  a  half-hour  of  dancing 
for  all  class  members  at  the  close  of  the  evening.  Be- 
fore this  plan  was  introduced,  the  members  of  the  Mil- 


PLANNING  THE  YEAR'S  PROGRAM       125 

linery  Class  did  not  come  into  personal  contact  with  the 
members  of  the  English  class.  The  half-hour  of  socia- 
bility changed  this,  and  the  "Paul  Jones"  and  other 
dancing  games  that  involved  changing  partners  soon 
brought  the  girls  into  intimate  relationship  with  one 
another.  Short  periods  of  sociability,  "get-together" 
times,  are  valuable  to  all  Clubs. 

The  Necessary  Business  Meeting.  A  Leader  must 
never  forget  that  the  tusiness  meeting  plays  an  im- 
portant part  in  the  life  of  a  well-organized  Club.  The 
organization  of  the  Club  is  the  framework  which  holds 
together  all  the  activities.  The  reports  at  the  regular 
business  meetings  show  what  the  committees  have  really 
accomplished  and  what  remains  to  be  done.  The  pro- 
cedure at  the  business  meeting  is  valuable  training  for 
the  girls,  an  important  contribution  to  their  training  for 
citizenship.  It  is  through  the  business  meetings  that  the 
functions  of  the  Club's  officers  assume  an  importance  and 
a  greater  interest  is  aroused  in  the  Club's  activities  be- 
cause the  members  come  to  see  that  they  are  "really 
running  it,"  as  one  Club  girl  remarked. 

These  are  the  important  Club  activities  which  every 
Club  may — and  should  have — singing,  times  for  socia- 
bility to  promote  comradeship  and  Club  spirit,  and 
regular  business  meetings  to  keep  the  Club's  aims 
definitely  before  the  girls. 

Variety— Its  Advantages  and  Its  Dangers 

There  are  many  activities  which  Girls'  Clubs  enjoy. 
There  are  the  Recreational  and  Physical  Development 
activities,  with  drills,  dancing,  games,  hikes  and  Camping 


i26  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

Trips.  There  are  the  dramatic  activities,  when  the  girls 
give  plays,  pageants  or  "stunts."  There  are  the  Literary 
Clubs  and  Debating  Clubs.  There  are  the  large  number 
of  classes  and  courses  which  are  constantly  being  given 
for  the  educational  development  of  the  Club  girls.  There 
are  the  series  of  special  talks  on  a  great  number  of 
subjects  of  interest  to  girls.  And  there  is  service  work 
for  community  and  country. 

Among  such  a  multitude  of  possibilities,  the  new  Club 
Leader  stands  bewildered.  There  are  so  many  things 
which  her  girls  would  enjoy  doing.  What  is  to  guide 
her  in  her  choice?  Many  Girls'  Clubs,  by  having  what 
they  call  an  "All- 'round  Program,"  have  been  able  to 
introduce  into  their  work  activities  of  many  different 
kinds.  One  or  two  of  these  are  selected  for  chief 
emphasis.  The  others  are  introduced  as  supplementary. 
Miss  Eliza  R.  Butler,  in  her  pamphlet  on  "Secondary 
School  Work"  (Women's  Press,  New  York  City),  says, 
"While  work  should  vary,  it  should  not  be  entered  into 
simply  to  supply  novelty.  Always  having  something  new 
is  not  necessarily  a  mark  of  successful  work.  To  select 
wisely  for  an  extended  period,  with  a  true  sense  of  pro- 
portion between  pleasure  and  profit,  never  to  forget  the 
questions :  'How  will  this  contribute  to  the  fundamental 
purpose  of  our  organization?'  and  'How  far  is  it  helping 
the  girls  to  persevere  in  the  accomplishment  of  the  pur- 
pose which  they  have  promised  to  hold?' — these  are  the 
true  ways  of  building  up  a  permanent  interest  and  strong 
work." 

A  clear  statement  of  the  Club's  aim  will  largely  influence 
its  choice  of  activities.  This  Business  Girls'  Clubs  of  the 
East  Central  Field  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  recommend  that 


PLANNING  THE  YEAR'S  PROGRAM       127 

"a  business  women's  club  be  social  in  form,  Christian  in 
purpose,  educational  in  trend,  civic  in  action,  and  demo- 
cratic in  membership."  They  further  recommend  that 
theirs  be  a  "balanced  program,  including  social,  physical, 
and  educational  work."  The  Camp  Fire  Manual  says 
that  "Camp  Fire  presents  many  phases.  To  some  it  repre- 
sents the  social  life;  to  others,  the  life  of  the  great  out- 
of-doors;  again,  there  are  those  to'  whom  the  ritual  and 
ceremony  make  the  strongest  appeal;  some  consider  it 
a  channel  for  personal  and  community  service.  Yet  all 
the  girls  find  through  Camp  Fire  the  romance  and  ad- 
venture of  the  life  in  the  home." 

This  emphasis  upon  the  variety  of  interests  which  a 
girls'  organization  should  have  is  of  great  importance. 
It  is  comparatively  easy  for  a  Club  to  become  so  absorbed 
in  one  kind  of  activity  that  its  whole  life  and  energy  is  de- 
voted to  it,  while  other  activities — just  as  necessary — are 
neglected.  A  constant  endeavor  to  have  variety  in  the 
activities  of  the  Club  has  many  advantages.  A  Club  with 
a  variety  of  interests  will  have  an  appeal  for  different 
types  of  girl.  Not  all  girls  enjoy  doing  the  same  things. 
A  girl  who  prefers  dancing  may  attend  a  Club  meeting, 
join  in  the  business  transactions,  and  even  take  part  in 
the  class  work,  all  for  the  sake  of  the  loved  dancing 
which  comes  at  the  close.  Similarly,  the  more  serious- 
minded  girl,  who  comes  for  the  sake  of  the  class  work, 
may  join  in  the  merry  dance,  and  get  through  it  the 
exercise  which  she  needs. 

A  variety  of  activities  will  develop  many  sides  of  a 
girl's  nature:  Committee  work  on  a  play,  a  debate,  or 
a  party ;  games ;  singing — all  these  bring  different  talents 
into  use.  The  greater  the  number  of  channels  in  which 


i28  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

a  girl  may  use  her  talents,  the  greater  the  number  of 
those  talents  which  seem  to  come  to  the  foreground. 

"I  never  knew  I  could  speak  before,"  said  a  girl,  who 
had  just  taken  part  in  a  debate.  "And  I  don't  believe 
I  would  ever  have  found  it  out  if  we  hadn't  had  this 
debate." 

The  danger  in  having  a  variety  of  interests  lies  in  the 
possible  introduction  of  too  many  activities  and  a  con- 
sequent scattering  of  energy,  with  small  results.  This 
danger  can  be  avoided  by  careful  planning  and  a  resolute 
completing  of  all  work  undertaken.  The  Camp  Fire 
suggests  the  following  five  steps  toward  success: 

1.  Select  at  least  one  interest  that  the  Camp  Fire 

will  steadily  try  to  support. 

2.  Use  the  out-of-doors. 

3.  Use  the  motion  songs. 

4.  Use  the  ceremonies. 

5.  Meet  regularly,  and  have  each  meeting  planned 

beforehand. 

Many  Club  Leaders  have  found  it  profitable  to  take 
advantage  of  the  seasonal  divisions  in  the  year  and  the 
natural  changes  of  interest  which  go  with  those  divi- 
sions. The  following  schedule  of  a  large  Girls'  Club 
shows  how  one  group  of  girls  maps  out  its  year's 
schedule : 

September.    Vacation  Reunion. 

Rally  meeting.     Appointing  of  Committees. 
Membership  Campaign.    Payment  of  yearly  dues. 
Registration  for  classes  and  Class  opening  Night. 

(Some   classes    run   through   the   year.     Others   are 
short  courses.) 


PLANNING  THE  YEAR'S  PROGRAM       129 

October.  Regular  meetings  of  classes. 

Informal  Club  gatherings. 

Hallowe'en  Stunt  Party. 

Special  Talk. 
November.    Fall  Dance. 

Special  Thanksgiving  Program. 

Preparation  for  Christmas  Sale. 
December.    Recess  from  Classes. 

Christmas  Activities.    Christmas  Sale. 

Christmas  stockings  filled  for  children. 
Christmas  Party. 
January.    New  Year's  Reception  to  Parents. 

Opening  of  Classes. 
February.     Special  parties  and  informal  social  gatherings  as 

desired. 

March.      Special    Talks — speakers    brought    for    special   days 
such  as  "Fire  Prevention  Day,"  etc. 

Preparation  begun  for  the  Spring  play. 
April.     Spring  Dance  or  Spring  Play — a  "Club  Benefit." 
May.    Working  toward  the  Final  Exhibit  or  "Class  Gradua- 
tion." 
June.    All  Club  efforts  bent  on  finishing  the  year's  work. 

Annual  Contests. 

Final  Program  and  Exhibit. 

Election  of  Officers. 
July.    Picnics  and  Camping  Parties. 

Such  a  year's  program  is  sufficiently  elastic  to  allow 
for  any  changes  which  the  girls  may  wish  as  the  year 
goes  on.  And  yet  the  planning  at  the  beginning  of  the 
year  gives  a  guide  to  the  activities  of  the  Club  and 
assures  the  variety  which  is  so  valuable.  Such  planning 
also  trains  the  girls  in  seeing  the  direct  relation  between 
successful  Club  events  and  careful,  sufficient  preparation. 

Just  as  the  year  is  varied,  so  each  meeting  may  be 
varied,  with  some  time  given  to  each  of  several  activities. 


130  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

A  Club  in  Hull  House  introduced  into  its  constitution 
the  regulation  that  no  meeting  should  be  held  without 
some  reading,  sewing,  music,  and  social  features.  The 
carefully  planned  program,  with  variety  and  with  an 
aim  which  is  within  the  reach  of  the  Club — that  is  the 
program  which  will  mean  success  for  the  girls  and  that 
is  the  program  which  they  will  most  enjoy.  As  the  ship 
that  follows  its  course  is  the  one  which  reaches  its 
harbor,  so  the  Club  that  has  a  program  and  carries  it 
out  is  the  one  which  has  the  most  far-reaching  influence 
for  good  in  the  lives  of  its  members. 


CHAPTER  VI 
ACTIVITIES  THAT  INTEREST  GIRLS 

FROM  the  multitude  of  activities  upon  which  Girls' 
Clubs  enter  enthusiastically,  there  are  several  general 
lines  which  are  universally  popular.  Girls  in  California 
seem  to  enjoy  the  very  things  which  girls  in  Pennsylvania 
enjoy.  And  the  reports  of  activities  in  Texas  are  not 
unlike  those  sent  from  Illinois. 

Physical  Development  Activities 

Every  Leader  realizes  the  necessity  for  interesting  her 
Club  in  proper  physical  development.  So  it  is  that  the 
activities  of  the  majority  of  Girls'  Clubs  touch  upon  the 
problem  of  physical  development  in  some  way.  One  Club 
may  have  the  opportunity  of  having  games  only ;  another 
has  teams  of  various  kinds;  still  another  gives  class 
work  in  a  gymnasium.  Some  Clubs  give  their  girls 
every  opportunity  to  dance,  while  others  are  organized 
among  groups  of  girls  to  whom  exercise  in  the  out-of- 
doors  is  possible. 

In  choosing  physical  development  activities  for  girls, 
much  depends  upon  the  ages  of  the  Club  members  and 
their  physical  needs.  Too  strenuous  a  form  of  exercise 
is  often  more  injurious  than  none  at  all. 


132  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

"When  I  look  back  upon  my  early  Club  work,"  once 
remarked  a  Leader  in  Ohio,  "I  fairly  tremble.  I  intro- 
duced the  most  strenuous  kind  of  athletic  games  with 
no  thought  as  to  whether  they  were  suited  to  the  girls. 
I  allowed  basketball  with  no  regulations  concerning 
dress,  the  removing  of  their  corsets,  or  of  baths  after- 
ward. My  advice  to  Club  Leaders  now  is  not  to 
introduce  physical  work  of  any  kind  without  definite 
thought  concerning  the  girls.  Consultation  with  some 
recreational  or  physical  development  expert  is  helpful." 

Games  and  Teams.  If  there  is  enough  space  in  the 
Club  rooms  active  games  can  be  introduced.  Five  or 
ten  minutes  is  plenty  of  time  to  enjoy  a  merry  game. 
Books  on  games  give  the  Club  Leader  many  suggestions 
concerning  new  and  interesting  games  and  are  an  in- 
valuable part  of  her  equipment.  The  value  in  playing 
games  lies  not  only  in  the  excellent  exercise  which  the 
girls  enjoy  but  in  training  quick  hands  and  eyes  and 
accurate  movements.  "Fair  play,"  "Team  work" — 
these  valuable  life  lessons  are  emphasized  as  part  of 
the  sport  and  make  their  permanent  impression  upon 
the  characters  of  the  girls.  In  the  course  of  a  game, 
many  personal  characteristics  of  the  members  may  be 
brought  out  which  the  Leader  has  not  before  observed 
in  the  quieter  pursuits  of  the  Club.  This  observation 
gives  her  a  suggestion  concerning  the  training  which  her 
girls  most  need.  Games  with  a  ball  are  fascinating  to 
most  girls.  Musical  games  will  often  tempt  even  the 
reluctant  ones  from  their  seats.  A  Leader's  ingenuity 
will  often  make  of  an  old  game  something  which  the 
girls  will  enjoy.  One  Leader  once  invented  a  new  name 
for  the  old  game  of  changing  chairs.  It  was  a  city 


ACTIVITIES  THAT  INTEREST  GIRLS      133 

Club,  and  calling  the  game  "Subway  Rush"  instantly 
appealed  to  them.  Another  Leader  divided  her  Club  into 
two  large  teams  or  "sides."  Each  week  she  introduced 
a  new  game  which  was  arranged  for  two  large  teams. 
Each  week  the  success  of  the  teams  was  recorded  on  a 
large  card  upon  the  wall  of  the  Club  room.  In  this 
way  she  developed  friendly  rivalry  between  teams  in- 
cluding every  Club  member. 

Basketball  is  a  popular  game  in  many  Clubs.  Al- 
though the  number  on  the  team  is  limited,  still  it  is 
possible  to  have  a  basketball  squad  taking  in  every 
girl  who  wishes  to  play.  From  this  squad  may  be  chosen 
the  first  team,  the  second  team,  and  substitutes.  If 
many  of  the  girls  are  interested  in  this  particular  sport 
and  the  Club  is  of  sufficient  size,  there  may  be  several 
teams,  and  a  series  of  games  may  be  played  for  the  Club 
championship.  From  these  an  "All-Club  Team"  may  be 
selected  for  games  with  outside  Clubs. 

The  inter-Club  game  has  been  the  scene  of  many  an 
enthusiastic  conflict.  Each  playing  Club  appears  at  the 
match,  waving  its  colors,  singing  its  Club  songs,  giving 
hearty  cheers  for  its  own  team  and  for  that  of  its  op- 
ponents. When  the  reward  is  a  silver  cup  or  a  tablet 
on  which  the  winning  Club's  name  is  inscribed  and 
which  it  may  keep  until  the  decision  of  the  next  series — 
then  the  girls  work  with  special  eagerness.  The  winners 
will  carry  home  with  them  a  symbol  of  their  victory. 

The  award  of  emblems  or  Club  letters  for  excellence 
in  athletic  activities  increases  the  interest  of  Club  mem- 
bers in  this  work.  They  can  sew  the  emblems  on  their 
sweaters,  showing  their  friends  that  they  are  girls  who 
can  "do  something." 


i34  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

Drill  work.  There  are  many  kinds  of  drill  work  which 
Club  girls  enjoy  doing.  In  some  Clubs  a  gymnastic 
teacher  conducts  classes  in  Swedish  or  aesthetic  drill, 
for  which  the  girls  wear  gymnasium  costumes.  A  Club 
which  has  gymnasium  apparatus  at  its  disposal  may  give 
its  members  a  systematic  course  in  apparatus  drill.  Few 
Clubs,  however,  have  such  equipment.  Nor  is  it  always 
practicable  for  the  girls  to  don  gymnasium  suits  for 
the  short  time  allowed  for  drill  work.  But  many  Leaders 
have  found  that  lighter  drills  can  be  introduced,  even  if 
cnly  for  a  short  time.  A  piano  is  a  great  help — the  girls 
enjoy  moving  in  time  to  the  music,  and  with  it  even  the 
most  simple  drills  become  interesting  and  pleasant. 

Modified  military  drill  such  as  has  been  successfully 
introduced  into  some  Clubs,  has  several  advantages. 
Girls  are  interested  in  it.  They  can  do  it  in  their  everyday 
clothes.  It  develops  excellent  posture,  quick  obedience 
to  commands,  precision  in  action — excellent  training  for 
young  girls.  Simple  uniforms  consisting  of  dark  blue 
skirts,  white  waists  and  dark  blue  ties  are  most  effective ; 
and  the  girls  are — very  rightly — made  to  wear  shoes  with 
common-sense  heels. 

When  one  large  Girls'  Club  introduced  extensive 
military  drill  into  its  activities,  it  was  divided  into  com- 
panies, with  the  regulation  officers  in  charge.  Each  year 
a  contest  in  military  tactics  was  held  and  the  judges  who 
attended  were  military  experts.  Pride  in  her  company 
led  each  girl  to  do  her  best,  and  the  beneficial  results 
of  the  work  were  evident  to  all,  in  the  girls'  erect  car- 
riage and  their  eager  interest  in  the  exercise. 


THE  ATHLETIC  BADGE 


NORMAL  GIRLS  PLAYING  VOLLEY  BALL  AT  NEW  PALTZ 


ACTIVITIES  THAT  INTEREST  GIRLS       135 

The  Athletic  Badge  Test  for  Girls 

The  Playground  and  Recreation  Association  of  Amer- 
ica, New  York  City,  has  drawn  up  an  Athletic  Badge 
Test  for  girls,  in  which  certain  standards  are  set  in 
various  tests  given  to  the  normal  girl.  Leaders  wishing 
to  test  their  girls  may  do  so  in  accordance  with  these 
regulations,  and  award  the  badges  to  all  who  attain  the 
standards. 
First  Test.  All-up  Indian  Club  Race,  30  seconds;  or 

Potato  Race,  42  seconds. 
Basketball  goal-throwing,  2  goals,  6  trials. 
Balancing,  24  feet,  2  trials. 
Second  Test.     All-up  Indian  Club  Race,  28  seconds; 

or  Potato  Race,  39  seconds. 
Basketball  goal-throwing,  3  goals,  6  trials. 
Balancing  (with  bean  bag  or  book  on  head),  24 

feet,  2  trials. 
Third  Test.    Running  and  Catching,  20  seconds. 

Throwing  for  Distance,  Basketball,  42  feet,  or 

Volley-ball,  44  feet. 
Volley-ball  Serving,  3  in  5  trials. 
What  the  Badge  Means.     "Every  girl  ought  to  have 
poise  and  control  over  her  body. 

"Every  girl  ought  to  be  able  to  attain  a  minimum 
physical  standard. 

"Every  girl  passing  the  tests  is  authorized  to  wear  this 
badge,  which  stands  for  physical  efficiency. 

"Girls  from  every  part  of  America  will  pass  the  same 
tests  and  wear  the  same  badges. 

"The  girl  who  is  physically  efficient  will  be  happier  and 
more  useful  to  society. 


i36  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

"To  raise  the  standard  of  physical  efficiency  among  the 
girls  of  America  is  to  give  greater  freedom,  beauty,  and 
power  to  the  women  of  America." 

Dancing.  The  lure  of  dancing  beckons  to  girls  of 
every  age.  Younger  girls  and  older  girls  who  would 
not  be  interested  in  anything  else  will  often  come  for 
dancing.  The  old  objection  to  every  sort  of  dancing 
is  rapidly  disappearing,  and  most  Club  Leaders  now  see 
that  proper  kinds  of  dancing  are  a  most  healthful  form 
of  exercise.  Girls  who  wish  to  dance  are  bound  to 
learn  it  somewhere  and  somehow.  This  being  the  case, 
why  not  let  them  learn  it  in  decent  surroundings  and 
in  the  right  way?  A  Club  Leader  who  allows  or  teaches 
dancing  enjoys  two  advantages: 

Though  the  attraction  of  the  Club  meeting  for  some 
girls  may  be  chiefly  in  the  dancing,  their  interest,  once  they 
have  come  to  the  Club  meeting,  may  often  be  turned  to 
something  else.  Girls  who  come  to  dance  may  stay  to 
listen  to  stories  or  to  sew.  One  Club  Leader  allowed 
her  girls  to  dance  for  a  time,  and  then  called  for  an 
intermission,  during  which  she  told  them  stories  or  read 
to  them.  Her  next  step  was  to  plan  a  program  for  this 
period,  and  it  was  not  long  before  the  girls  themselves 
shared  actively  in  its  preparation.  The  dancing  had 
brought  them  together — the  Leader's  wisdom  created  an 
opportunity  to  do  other  things. 

The  second  advantage  of  dancing  is  that  instruction 
along  other  lines  may  be  given  incidentally  to  the  work 
in  dancing.  The  following  description  of  what  some 
Leaders  have  accomplished  in  this  way  shows  what  can 
be  done.  The  work  of  the  regular  dancing  class  may 
be  easily  adapted  to  the  needs  and  preferences  of  the 


ACTIVITIES  THAT  INTEREST  GIRLS      137 

girls.  Folk  dancing,  aesthetic  dancing,  social  dancing — 
all  have  their  appeal  and,  aside  from  their  value  as  ex- 
ercise may  be  of  real  educational  value. 

Folk  Dancing.  Through  this  a  Leader  may  arouse 
interest  in  the  customs  of  the  races  among  which  the 
dances  originated.  One  Leader,  who  had  introduced 
dancing  among  her  girls,  took  the  Club  to  see  the  dancing 
of  some  famous  professionals.  She  noticed  their  great 
interest  in  the  folk  dances  on  the  program.  She  then 
bought  some  books  profusely  illustrated  with  pictures 
of  many  folk  dances.  The  girls  chose  those  which  they 
would  like  to  learn.  Their  enthusiasm  spread  and  the 
result  was  that  her  little  group  became  the  leading  spirits 
in  a  Community  Pageant,  in  which  all  the  nationalities 
found  in  that  community  were  represented  by  their  own 
dances.  Not  only  did  this  Club's  work  on  folk  dancing 
do  the  community  a  real  service  by  bringing  its  parts 
into  sympathetic  contact  with  one  another,  but  also  the 
Class  itself  had  learned  much  through  its  study  of  the 
costumes  and  characteristics  of  many  nations. 

In  another  Club,  in  New  York  City,  whose  girls — the 
daughters  of  foreign-born  parents — were  inclined  to 
smile  at  the  ways  of  their  fathers  and  mothers,  the 
Leader  revived  the  dances  of  the  "home-land."  At  the 
party  at  which  the  dances  were  given,  the  parents  were  the 
invited  guests,  and  greatly  enjoyed  seeing  their  daughters 
give  the  dances  of  their  own  youth. 

Esthetic  Dancing.  ^Esthetic  dancing  emphasizes  beauty 
and  grace  of  movement.  The  work  in  such  dancing 
should  help  the  girls  to  be  more  graceful.  Interpretative 
dancing,  in  which  the  various  steps  each  express  an 
idea  or  a  part  of  an  idea  reveals  to  the  dancers  a  new 


138  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

meaning  in  movement.  One  Leader  introduced  a  Spring 
dance  in  the  month  of  March;  its  steps  brought  in  the 
arrival  of  the  birds,  the  thawing  of  the  snow,  and  other 
signs  of  Spring.  She  told  the  girls  the  story  of  the 
dance  and,  as  they  took  up  each  new  step,  she  explained 
its  meaning.  At  every  lesson,  she  gave  the  Club  Nature 
talks,  with  the  result  that  the  girls  became  interested 
in  Nature  study.  Later  this  same  group  took  up  dances 
interpreting  Summer,  Autumn,  and  Winter,  completing 
the  cycle  of  the  seasons.  One  girl  then  suggested  that 
they  work  out  a  dance  for  themselves  in  which  they 
might  represent  the  various  activities  of  the  Club.  This 
they  did,  presenting  the  dance  at  their  final  program, 
and  asking  the  audience  to  "guess"  what  each  activity 
was  as  they  danced  it.  This  Leader  not  only  gave  an 
educational  interest  to  the  girls'  aesthetic  dancing  but  was 
also  able  to  encourage  original  ideas  in  the  girls  them- 
selves. 

Social  Dancing.  A  well-conducted  class  in  Social 
Dancing  accomplishes  two  purposes :  it  gives  its  members 
an  opportunity  to  learn  correct  dancing,  and  it  offers 
a  wholesome  place  to  which  the  girls  may  bring  young 
men.  Many  cheap  and  vulgar  dance  halls  are  waiting 
to  welcome  young  people,  and  if  the  dancing  class  ac- 
complished nothing  beyond  giving  the  opportunity  for 
clean  enjoyment,  it  would  be  worth  while.  But  a  social 
dancing  class  may  accomplish  a  great  deal  more  for  it 
offers  an  almost  unique  opportunity  for  teaching  courtesy 
and  etiquette. 

One  Club  Leader  who  was  unusually  successful  in 
holding  the  interest  of  her  young  people  created  a  social 
atmosphere  in  her  dancing  class  by  simple  means.  Each 


ACTIVITIES  THAT  INTEREST  GIRLS       139 

week,  an  Entertainment  Committee  was  appointed  from 
among  the  class  members.  The  young  girls  on  the  Com- 
mittee "received"  with  the  Leader,  welcoming  the  others 
as  they  came  in  and  saying  good-night  to  them  as  they 
left.  The  young  men  on  the  Committee  welcomed  and 
introduced  the  new  class  members,  saw  that  all  had 
partners  for  the  dances,  and  helped  the  instructor  in 
maintaining  a  high  standard  of  dancing.  For  it  was 
generally  understood  that  certain  regulations  must  be  ob- 
served. All  young  men  must  keep  a  good  position  in  danc- 
ing, and  at  the  close  of  a  dance  they  must  not  leave  their 
partners  abruptly  in  the  middle  of  the  floor.  Whatever 
disciplining  was  needed  was  done  quietly  and  individually. 
One  class  member  was  heard  to  remark,  "This  is  a 
regular  place — no  funny  business  here!"  The  Leader 
gave  this  as  one  reason  for  her  control  of  the  class: 
"I  am  always  there,"  she  explained,  "before  anyone  else 
has  had  a  chance  to  start  anything.  Once  mischief  is 
started  it  is  twice  as  hard  to  stop.  I  believe  in  pre- 
vention." 

Regulating  the  Dancing.  Wherever  dancing  is  allowed, 
regulation  of  some  kind  will  be  necessary.  New  members 
will  come  in  who,  not  yet  in  the  spirit  of  the  Club, 
will  introduce  the  "latest" — and  worst — steps.  No  Club 
should  allow  dancing  which  is  not  of  the  highest  stand- 
ard, and  this  should  be  understood  by  all  members. 
The  Leader  will,  of  course,  insist  upon  carrying  out  this 
rule.  But  it  is  also  possible  to  throw  a  large  share  of 
the  regulating  directly  into  the  hands  of  the  members. 
Create  a  spirit  of  pride  in  the  kind  of  dancing  which 
is  done  in  your  Club,  and  the  matter  of  keeping  out 


140  -GIRLS'  CLUBS 

"tough"  dancing  will  almost  take  care  of  itself.     The 
loyal  Club  girls  will  then  enforce  the  rules. 

One  Leader  who  was  faced  with  this  problem  made 
the  rule  that  if  the  tough  dancing  continued,  all  dancing 
would  be  stopped.  This  had  the  desired  effect.  The 
girls  who  enjoyed  the  recreation  watched  the  conduct 
of  the  dancers,  and  immediately  stopped  all  violations 
of  the  regulations  with,  "If  you  don't  stop,  we'll  put 
you  out  of  the  Club !"  No  word  from  the  Leader  could 
have  been  so  effective. 

Dramatics  and  Pageants 

There  are  great  possibilities  in  the  dramatic  work  of 
a  Club.  The  very  word  "play"  has  a  charm  for  every 
girl.  Even  if  she  does  not  wish  to  be  in  the  cast  her- 
self, she  enjoys  seeing  her  friends  act.  There  is  perhaps 
no  more  popular  means  of  increasing  the  Club's  treasury 
than  by  giving  a  dramatic  entertainment. 

Dramatics  gives  the  Leader  an  excellent  opportunity 
for  developing  her  girls  along  useful  lines.  Poise,  voice 
modulation,  drill  in  memorizing,  team  work — all  of  these 
lessons  are  constantly  impressed  upon  the  actors  in 
their  rehearsals.  Girls  who  could  never  be  induced  to 
take  a  course  in  Spoken  English  absorb  some  of  the 
necessary  principles  when  the  coach  of  the  play  insists 
upon  the  proper  use  of  their  voices,  telling  them  of  the 
unpleasant  effect  which  harshness  will  have  upon  the 
audience. 

The  kind  of  play  which  is  selected  is  of  great  im- 
portance. It  must,  of  course,  be  of  suitable  length, 
involving  a  cast  of  the  proper  size;  its  costumes  and 


ACTIVITIES  THAT  INTEREST  GIRLS      141 

scenery  must  be  such  as  the  Club  can  afford  or  make; 
and  it  must  be  of  such  a  nature  that  it  will  interest  the 
girls  and  the  audience  before  whom  it  is  to  be  given. 
The  character  of  the  play  itself,  the  nature  of  the  plot 
and  the  quality  of  the  English  used  should  be  of  as  high 
a  grade  as  possible;  for  the  girls  must  memorize  the 
lines,  and  the  better  the  grade  of  the  play,  the  more 
worth  while  will  be  the  efforts  which  the  girls  spend 
upon  it. 

A  single  year  of  the  dramatic  work  in  the  Christodora 
House  Settlement,  New  York  City,  shows  great  variety 
in  the  kinds  of  play  chosen  by  the  Clubs.  One  gave 
"Twelfth  Night,"  and  begged  to  have  "just  one  more 
scene  in."  The  Club  members  thought  that  the  lines 
were  so  beautiful  that  they  should  give  as  much  of  the 
play  as  they  could. 

"The  Club  that  gave  a  play  whose  chief  characteristics 
were  loud  talking,  slaps  on  the  back,  and  rough  costumes, 
stands  at  the  other ^end,"  says  a  Christodora  House  re- 
port. "But  each  group  is  trying  to  make  a  success  in  its 
own  way.  To  make  the  roughness  a  little  less  rough, 
and  the  jokes  and  business  a  little  less  loud,  is  what  we 
are  working  for  on  that  side.  To  plant  beautiful  thoughts 
and  words  in  the  midst  of  the  play-lovers,  and  to  let 
them  live  a  little  while  in  the  country  of  imagination — 
that  is  the  purpose  of  all  the  work  spent  on  dramatics 
in  Christodora  House." 

Often,  when  the  Club  girls  insist  upon  a  kind  of 
play  which  does  not  meet  with  the  Leader's  approval, 
it  is  wise  to  allow  them  to  go  on  their  chosen  course 
and  come  to  see  their  mistakes  by  virtue  of  experience. 
A  Club  Leader  who  tried  this  plan  has  told  how  she 


142  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

brought  her  girls  to  see  the  kind  of  play  which  they 
could  best  give.  Her  girls  considered  her  too  con- 
servative in  her  ideas.  They  wished  to  give  a  very  long, 
very  elaborate  play.  The  committee  chose  one  of  great 
length  and  of  complicated  plot.  The  Leader  acquiesced 
and  helped  them,  although  she  quietly  warned  them  that 
they  had  attempted  a  great  problem.  The  girls  strug- 
gled on.  Little  by  little,  however,  dissatisfaction  became 
evident.  Soon,  preparations  began  to  slacken.  At  last, 
the  committee  came  to  the  Leader  and  said  they  "guessed 
they  didn't  want  to  give  a  play  now."  The  Leader  did 
not  say,  "I  told  you  so,"  but  quietly  suggested  another 
kind  of  program  for  the  proposed  entertainment.  When 
next  the  subject  of  giving  a  play  came  up,  the  girls 
were  eager  for  the  Club  Leader's  suggestions. 

On  the  other  hand,  many  Clubs  wishing  to  give  plays 
know  little  or  nothing  about  where  they  may  be  obtained, 
of  what  kind  of  play  will  be  "funny  and  interesting." 
The  Club  members  look  to  their  Leader  for  guidance. 
In  such  a  case  she  has  an  opportunity  to  guide  their 
choice  and  to  put  before  them  a  number  of  highly  de- 
sirable plays  from  which  they  may  choose.  There  are 
many  sources  of  help  to  which  she  may  turn.  The 
Women's  Press,  New  York  City,  has  suggestions  for 
plays  suitable  for  girls.  The  Girls'  Friendly  Society 
and  the  National  League  of  Women  Workers  have  pre- 
pared lists  of  plays,  some  with  casts  for  girls  only.  The 
Drama  League  of  America,  Chicago,  has  also  published 
a  list  of  selected  plays. 

Many  Clubs  have  greatly  enjoyed  writing  original 
plays.  Girls'  Clubs  have  worked  upon  such  a  book  as 
"The  Birds'  Christmas  Carol"  or  "Little  Women,"  and 


ACTIVITIES  THAT  INTEREST  GIRLS       143 

from  it  have  dramatized  their  own  production.  Such 
work  naturally  requires  a  longer  period  of  preparation, 
but  it  gives  the  members  splendid  experience  in  actually 
writing  a  play.  Such  simple  stories  as  "The  Sleeping 
Beauty"  or  "The  Frog  Prince"  haVe  been  put  into 
dramatic  form,  to  the  great  delight  of  younger  girls. 

Original  dramatic  work,  in  which  the  entire  play  is 
originated  by  the  Club  members,  is  not  impossible. 
Material  which  is  familiar  to  them  may  be  selected  as 
the  theme:  the  activities  of  the  Club,  historical  events, 
civic  interests.  The  following  play  was  written  by  chil- 
dren in  New  York  City  after  reading  the  food  circulars 
sent  out  by  the  Mayor's  Food  Commission.  It  was  given 
before  the  children's  mothers. 


"Going  to  Market" 

SCENE  i.  Mrs.  Berg  tells  Mrs.  Klein  how  to  purchase 
successfully.  Her  knowledge  has  been  obtained  from 
the  food  circulars  brought  from  school  by  her  children. 

SCENE  2.  They  visit  the  meat  shop,  fish  store,  push 
carts,  etc.,  using  the  knowledge  gained. 

SCENE  3.  On  arriving  home,  they  find  their  children 
ready  for  school.  This  scene  illustrates  the  training  re- 
ceived in  the  Civic  League:  clean  shoes,  hands,  clothes. 


A  Club  in  a  large  store  once  gave  an  original  play 
called  "Courtesy  to  every  Customer."  The  scene  was  in 
the  coat  department  of  the  store  and  customers  came  in 
to  buy  coats.  All  kinds  appeared,  the  "just  looking" 


144  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

customer,  the  man  shopping  for  his  wife,  the  mother 
and  daughter  who  disagreed;  yet  the  salesgirl  was  un- 
failingly polite  to  all ! 

The  larger  field  of  pageantry  has  also  been  of  great 
use  in  Club  work.  For  years  the  pageant  idea  has  been 
growing  in  favor.  In  a  large  Club,  it  brings  together 
the  many  branches  of  the  work  and  molds  the  Club 
into  a  closer  unit.  In  a  city,  a  pageant  of  all  the  girls' 
organizations  unites  them  all  in  a  common  cause  and 
gives  an  impetus  to  that  democratic  feeling  among  girls 
for  which  all  Club  leaders  should  work.  In  smaller 
communities,  pageants  have  united  all  the  residents  and 
have  created  a  civic  pride  which  is  an  incentive  to  further 
activity. 

The  theme  of  the  pageant  can  be  made  of  definite 
educational  interest  to  the  Club.  The  costuming  and 
the  general  effects  which  are  produced  can  give  to  the 
girls  a  realization  of  the  beauty  of  color  and  of  tableaux. 
As  a  rule,  the  pageant  calls  for  few  speaking  parts,  its 
significance  being  conveyed  chiefly  by  means  of  groups, 
through  pantomime,  tableaux,  or  choruses.  Where  a 
small  girls'  group  takes  active  part  in  such  a  pageant,  the 
girls  are  made  to  feel  that  their  Club  is,  after  all,  a  part 
of  a  larger,  broader  work. 

In  the  jubilee  celebration  of  the  fiftieth  year  of  the 
Young  Women's  Christian  Association  work  in  this 
country,  a  large  pageant  called  "Girls  of  Yesterday  and 
To-day"  was  given  in  New  York  City.  Girls  from  all 
parts  of  the  city  participated  in  this  pageant,  girls  from 
many  Clubs  and  many  walks  of  life.  Only  a  few  gen- 
eral rehearsals  were  necessary,  as  each  group  knew  its 
definite  part  and  had  rehearsed  that  part  in  its  own 


«  £ 

w  E 

ftn    =2 


ACTIVITIES  THAT  INTEREST  GIRLS      145 

Club  room.  The  historic  pictures  of  the  Association 
which  were  given  showed  to  all  interested  in  girls  the  be- 
ginnings of  Association  work,  something  of  its  growth 
through  the  years,  and  its  present  opportunities.  The 
Club  girls  who  were  in  the  pageant  were  brought  into 
close  relationship  with  one  another  and  were  inspired 
to  go  back  and  do  better  Club  work  than  ever  before. 

The  type  of  dramatic  production  chosen  is  of  great 
importance.  A  good  choice,  is,  however,  but  a  first  step. 
The  success  of  any  entertainment  depends  largely  upon 
the  way  in  which  a  Club  plans  the  work  upon  it.  It 
is  advisable  to  have  some  older  person  in  charge  from 
the  outset  to  direct  the  work.  If  the  Club  Leader  does 
not  feel  capable  of  doing  this  herself,  it  is  often  possible 
for  her  to  secure  the  help  of  a  coach.  In  Hull  House, 
the  dramatic  work  is  under  the  direction  of  the  graduate 
department  of  the  School  of  Oratory,  Northwestern 
University.  In  a  large  city,  there  are  many  college  grad- 
uates who  have  worked  in  dramatics  and  who  are  well 
able  to  do  the  work  of  coaching.  In  smaller  communi- 
ties, such  technical  help  is  not  always  at  hand.  There 
are,  however,  many  teachers  and  mothers  who  enjoy 
work  of  this  kind. 

The  wise  choice  of  the  cast  is  of  great  importance. 
To  base  the  selection  on  dramatic  ability,  to  choose  the 
girl  for  each  part  by  "trials" — such  methods  have  proved 
satisfactory.  The  trials  for  the  play  may  be  held  as 
follows.  The  choice  of  the  play  is  announced.  Copies 
of  the  play  are  given  to  the  girls  to  read.  Each  girl 
is  asked  to  sign  for  the  part  which  she  wishes  to  take. 
The  trials  are  then  held,  with  the  girls  reading  the  parts 
which  they  have  selected.  The  coach  then  chooses  the 


i46  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

cast,  judging  each  girl's  fitness  for  her  part  by  the 
ability  which  she  shows  in  the  trials.  Often,  a  girl  has 
not  signed  for  the  part  for  which  she  is  best  fitted.  A 
stout,  matronly  girl  may  yearn  to  be  the  dainty  heroine ! 
Yet  a  tactful  coach  can  place  her  in  the  role  of  a  mother 
and  so  give  to  her  the  part  which  she  can  act  well.  Thus 
every  member  is  given  an  opportunity  to  try  for  a  part 
in  the  play. 

Once  the  cast  is  chosen,  the  work  on  the  play  as  a 
whole  may  be  so  divided  that  every  Club  girl  is  given 
her  share.  Committees  may  be  appointed  to  execute  the 
various  tasks — a  costume  committee,  a  poster  committee, 
a  ticket  committee.  The  greater  the  number  of  girls 
who  are  actively  at  work  upon  a  play,  the  greater  will 
be  the  interest  in  the  coming  event. 

General  Directions  for  Amateur  Performances 

The  Camp  Fire  Girls'  Manual  has  made  a  number  of 
suggestions  on  "How  to  Give  a  Successful  Entertain- 
ment." These  are  well  worth  consideration: 

1.  A  play  must  be  well  advertised.    This  point  is  often 
omitted.     You  cannot  expect  good  press  notices  unless 
you  patronize  the  papers ;  it  will  pay  you  every  time. 

2.  Always  send  complimentary  tickets  to  newspaper 
reporters.    Take  some  special  trouble  to  make  their  ac- 
quaintance, and  interest  them  in  the  play  and  its  objects. 

3.  A  good  way  to  get  posters  is  to  have  a  competition 
among  the  girls  and  a  prize  awarded  for  the  best  poster. 
This  competition  must  be  held  well  in  advance  of  the 
play  as  the  posters  should  be  shown  in  prominent  places 
in  the  town  at  least  two  weeks  before  the  performance. 


ACTIVITIES  THAT  INTEREST  GIRLS       147 

4.  Tickets  for  the  play  should  always  be  sold  in  ad- 
vance.    This  is  the  surest  way  to  obtain  good  financial 
results.    To  encourage  the  sale,  one  ticket  may  be  given 
away  to  each  person  who  sells  a  certain  number.     It  is 
always  worth  while  to  have  some  reserved  seats. 

5.  Form  a  committee  of  influential  people  in  the  town 
who  will  act  as  patrons.     The  more  people  you  can 
interest  in  your  work,  the  more  successful  it  will  be. 

6.  Get  your  pastors  interested. 

7.  If  the  play  is  of  an  ambitious  nature,  secure  the 
best  coach  possible. 

8.  Photographs  should  be  taken  and  exhibited  in  ad- 
vance.     Newspapers    will    often    accept    material   with 
photographs  which  would  otherwise  be  refused. 

9.  Don't  work  too  long  on  a  play,  as  the  actors  are 
likely  to  become  overtrained. 

10.  Plays  should  not  be  too  long. 

11.  The  main  points  to  remember  in  an  amateur  per- 
formance are :  start  on  time ;  avoid  delay  between  scenes ; 
have  a  smoothly  running  curtain ;  keep  silence  behind  the 
scenes;  speak  slowly  and  clearly;  do  not  hurry. 

"A  popular  form  of  entertainment  is  to  combine  a 
short  play  with  a  variety  program.  Songs  in  character 
are  always  liked,  as  well  as  tableaux  or  well-known 
pictures,  either  still  or  with  motion.  Flower  songs  can 
be  made  attractive  by  making  large  paper  flowers.  It 
is  always  worth  while  to  take  a  little  extra  trouble  over 
costuming  in  order  to  make  a  song,  a  chorus,  or  a 
recitation  attractive.  Cheesecloth  and  colored  paper  can 
be  used  in  endless  ways."  (From  the  same  Manual.) 

Beside  these  formal  dramatics,  informal  programs  may 
play  a  very  pleasant  part  in  a  Club's  activities.  Many 


i48  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

a  happy  evening  has  been  spent  in  giving  a  "minstrel 
show,"  its  program  filled  with  local  jokes  and  topical 
songs.  Parties  have  been  turned  from  failure  to  suc- 
cess by  the  introduction  of  charades  and  "stunts." 
Every  college  girl  knows  what  a  "stunt"  is.  She  re- 
members the  party  for  Freshmen  when  her  class  gave 
a  melodrama  in  all  its  vivid  detail.  She  remembers  the 
time  when  they  played  "Fat  Ladies'  Basketball"  with  a 
maid  in  active  attendance  on  each  player  and  the 
frequent  use  of  the  step  ladder,  which  the  players 
laboriously  climbed  and  languidly  dropped  the  ball 
through  the  basket.  She  remembers  the  "Old  Family 
Album"  which  her  classmates  illustrated  with  living 
models.  Such  "stunts"  as  these  are  received  with  shouts 
of  joy  by  any  party,  and  the  giving  of  them  awakens 
the  girls'  own  ideas  and  ingenuity. 

Literary  Activities  for  the  Club 

Every  Club  should  give  part  of  its  time  to  literary 
activities  of  some  sort.  No  Leader  should  be  satisfied 
with  her  efforts  until  she  has  made  an  earnest  attempt 
to  interest  her  girls  in  good  reading.  Among  some  girls 
the  very  mention  of  books  and  reading  meets  with  a 
chilly  response.  Such  girls  as  these  must  be  gradually 
interested.  To  other  types  of  girl  the  literary  activi-. 
ties  of  a  Club  are  of  so  much  interest  that  they  would 
like  to  devote  a  large  share  of  the  Club  meeting  to 
them. 

When  the  girls  are  already  interested  in  books,  the 
task  of  the  Leader  will  be  to  direct  that  interest  along 
the  best  channels.  Her  suggestions  about  the  books  to 


ACTIVITIES  THAT  INTEREST  GIRLS      149 

be  read  and  discussed  will  depend  upon  the  type  of 
girl  in  the  Club,  and  will  call  for  both  wise  judgment 
and  a  deep  and  intimate  knowledge  of  the  individual 
girl.  A  mistaken  choice  may  take  away  a  girl's  con- 
fidence in  her  Leader.  A  Club  girl  once  went  to  her 
Leader  and,  explaining  that  she  enjoyed  reading,  asked 
for  suggestions.  The  Leader,  knowing  only  that  the 
girl  did  clerical  work  in  an  office,  did  not  question  her 
further  but  turned  at  once  and  took  a  book  from  the 
Club  shelf. 

"You  probably  haven't  read  this,"  she  said,  casually, 
"but  Dickens  is  really  very  good." 

The  girl  took  the  book  with  never  a  smile,  but  that 
night  at  home  she  and  her  family  laughed  over  th6% 
advice,  for  it  chanced  that  the  family  were  all  book- 
lovers.  The  girl's  request  had  sprung  from  her  desire 
to  know  of  some  good  new  books.  The  Club  Leader 
could  have  learned  this  easily  by  a  few  questions.  In- 
stead, her  careless  choice  cost  her  an  opportunity  to  be 
of  definite  help. 

When  a  Leader  knows  the  type  of  books  which  will 
interest  her  girls,  there  are  many  sources  to  which  she 
may  turn  for  help.  The  Public  Libraries  in  towns  and 
cities  are  her  aid.  In  rural  communities,  the  Girls'  Club*} 
can  become  the  agent  for  circulating  the  traveling' 
libraries  which  the  State  Library  Commissions  send  out. 
The  American  Library  Association,  the  Library  of 
Congress,  and  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Education 
have  prepared  and  printed  helpful  lists.  Publishers' 
catalogs  are  full  of  suggestions,  especially  their  lists  of 
inexpensive  editions  of  standard  books.  By  the  use  of 
these  editions,  a  Leader  can  often  encourage  the  girls 


GIRLS'  CLUBS 

to  start  gathering  their  own  libraries.  One  Club  has 
adopted  the  plan  of  having  each  member  in  its  Book 
Club  pay  a  certain  amount  each  week.  With  this  money, 
books  have  been  bought  and  circulated  throughout  the 
Club.  When  the  members  have  all  read  the  books,  the 
girls  "draw  lots"  and  each  Club  member  receives  one 
of  the  books  for  her  own.  Such  a  plan  has  encouraged 
the  careful  handling  of  the  books,  as  each  girl  knows 
she  will  receive  one  of  them. 

In  the  Girls'  Friendly  Society,  "Fifteen-Minute  Read- 
ing Circles"  have  been  extensively  organized.  The  girls 
in  these  circles  pledge  themselves  to  read  for  fifteen 
minutes  a  day  from  the  books  on  the  selected  list  which 
has  been  prepared  for  this  work.  Should  any  girl  wish 
to  choose  her  own  book,  she  submits  her  choice  to  the 
Leader,  who  tells  her  whether,  in  her  estimation,  the 
book  is  worth  a  place  in  the  Reading  Circle's  list. 

The  more  thoroughly  a  Club's  reading  list  is  prepared, 
the  greater  will  be  the  results  obtained  from  this  literary 
activity.  Such  a  list  should  have  variety  and  the  girls 
should  be  encouraged  to  read  different  types  of  books: 
fiction,  history^  biography,  travel,  etc.  If  the  girls  re- 
quest a  certain  kind  of  reading,  their  wishes  should  be 
met  so  far  as  is  possible.  A  group  of  young  Jewish 
people  meeting  in  a  Chicago  Settlement  house  requested 
a  course,  saying  that  they  wished  to  "know  and  appre- 
ciate literature  better  and  at  the  same  time  to  improve 
their  knowledge  of  English."  They  decided  on  a  course 
in  Modern  Drama,  and  before  they  left  the  subject  they 
had  considered  Norwegian,  Belgian,  German,  French, 
and  English  plays.  Each  meeting  included  a  study  of 


ACTIVITIES  THAT  INTEREST  GIRLS       151 

the  author  and  of  the  drama  under  consideration,  a 
critic's  report  and  a  discussion. 

A  Leader  can  often  enlist  the  interest  of  some  lover 
of  books  who  will  come  into  the  Club  and  give  special 
talks  or  hold  discussions  upon  books.  Girls  who  are 
vitally  interested  in  literary  study  should  be  given  in- 
telligent guidance  and  encouragement. 

If  the  Club  girls  do  not  enjoy  reading,  the  first  task 
before  the  Leader  is  to  create  interest.  Story-telling  is 
a  popular  means  of  introduction  to  the  world's  best 
literature,  and  younger  girls  and  older  alike  enjoy  it. 
One  Leader  has  interested  many  of  her  girls  in  reading 
by  concluding  each  story  with  the  remark:  "I  have 
some  books  here  by  the  man  who  wrote  the  story  I 
have  just  told  you.  Wouldn't  you  like  to  look  at  them  ?" 
The  girls  then  gather  about  the  table  and  almost  without 
exception  the  books  get  taken  home.  Many  a  Public 
Library  staff  nowadays  includes  a  story-teller  who  will 
go  out  to  Clubs,  upon  request,  and  tell  stories  to  the 
girls. 

Many  other  interesting  methods  have  been  used  by 
Leaders  to  draw  the  attention  of  the  girls  to  reading. 
One  who  was  in  the  habit  of  taking  her  girls  each  year 
for  a  trip  up  the  Hudson,  would  tell  tl*em  beforehand 
the  story  of  Rip  Van  Winkle,  mentioning  incidentally 
the  many  other  interesting  legends  whose  scene  is  the 
Hudson  Valley.  Then  the  girls  went  to  the  PrbUc 
Library  for  books  on  the  subject,  and  for  a  month  be- 
fore the  trip,  they  told  in  the  Club  meetings  what  they 
had  learned.  When  at  last  they  took  the  trip,  the  wind- 
ing river  and  beautiful  hills  had  a  new  meaning  for 
them,  and  in  their  imagination  they  saw  the  Indians 


iS2  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

coming  down  to  the  river  or  the  old  Dutch  people  em- 
barking in  their  quaint  boats. 

To  a  Club  of  colored  girls,  meeting  for  art  embroid- 
ery, the  Leader  suggested  the  reading  of  Paul  Laurence 
Dunbar's  poems  while  they  sewed.  The  girls  at  once 
became  interested  in  hearing  the  work  of  the  colored 
poet,  and  at  the  close  of  the  year  they  gave  a  program 
in  which  a  number  of  his  poems  were  recited  and  sung. 
Another  Leader  stimulated  her  girls  by  reading  aloud 
interesting  stories  from  well-known  authors  and  com- 
paring them.  One  evening  she  said:  "Girls,  most  of 
you  have  younger  brothers  and  sisters,  so  that  you  know 
how  children  talk  and  act.  I  want  you  to  tell  me  which 
of  the  two  stories  I  shall  read  to-night  you  consider 
the  better  picture  of  children."  The  passages  which  she 
read  were  chosen  from  Charles  Dickens  and  from  Ken- 
neth Grahame.  The  girls  listened  with  eager  interest 
and  voted  on  the  question  at  the  close  of  the  evening. 
Such  simple  plans  as  these  often  give  a  girl  her  first 
desire  to  read.  If  she  is  interested  in  that  first  book, 
she  will  return  for  a  second,  and  a  third,  and  so  on  in  a 
never-ending  chain. 

Even  the  parties  of  a  Literary  Club  may  be  used  to 
call  attention  to  books.  Games  of  "Authors"  may  be 
played  at  tables.  Pictures  of  authors  may  be  pinned 
about  the  room  and  used  in  a  guessing  contest.  Or  pin 
the  name  of  an  author  on  the  back  of  each  girl,  and 
make  her,  by  asking  questions,  discover  who  she  is! 
Many  pleasant  evenings  have  been  held  in  Clubs  when 
each  girl  has  come  in  a  costume  which  represents  the 
title  of  a  book.  Such  games  make  of  books  something 
far  more  interesting  than  mere  titles  in  a  list. 


ACTIVITIES  THAT  INTEREST  GIRLS      153 

Debates,  oratorical  contests,  and  mock  trials  are  also 
popular  in  Girls'  Clubs.  In  Christodora  House,  New 
York  City,  the  Girls'  Clubs  greatly  enjoy  investigating 
some  live  topic  for  debate,  such  as  "limiting  immigra- 
tion"; then  reading  articles  and  books  on  it;  and,  at 
last,  debating  it  with  the  Boys'  Clubs  before  special 
judges  and  an  interested  audience.  If  a  love  of  debating 
can  be  aroused,  there  is  no  better  way  of  getting  the 
girls  to  read.  The  very  success  of  the  debate  will  depend 
largely  upon  the  kind  of  reading  which  they  do  upon 
the  subject  and  the  care  with  which  they  note  the  various 
points. 

In  an  oratorical  contest  of  any  kind,  the  girls  receive 
training  in  memorizing  and,  where  careful  coaching  is 
given,  work  in  voice  modulation  and  poise.  When 
standard  selections  are  memorized,  great  care  should 
be  used  in  choosing  those  passages  which  will  be  of 
actual  benefit  to  the  girls.  If  original  papers  are  written 
for  the  occasion,  every  paper  should  be  of  a  certain 
minimum  grade  of  excellence.  In  this  way,  the  appear- 
ance of  the  girl  in  the  contest  will  mean  that  she  has 
been  able  to  write  as  well  as  deliver  a  good  paper. 

In  one  Girls'  Club,  which  had  held  such  contests  for 
a  number  of  years,  the  subjects  for  speeches  were 
passed  to  the  girls  on  the  evening  of  the  contest.  They 
were  given  ten  minutes  in  which  to  arrange  their  points, 
and  at  the  close  of  that  time  were  called  upon  to  deliver 
their  speeches.  The  results  showed  that  the  girls  had 
been  trained  through  their  oratorical  work  to  think 
quickly  and  logically. 

Mock  trials  upon  subjects  of  special  interest  to  the 
Club  have  been  a  source  of  great  merriment.  The  pleas 


iS4  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

of  the  attorneys,  the  procedure  of  the  Court,  the  stories 
of  the  witnesses — all  these  quicken  the  ingenuity  of  the 
Club  members.  Some  members  in  their  desire  to  make 
their  Mock  Trials  successful  have  consulted  lawyer 
friends  about  points  of  Court  etiquette.  All  of  this  has 
been  of  definite  help  in  broadening  the  interest  of  the  girls 
and  has  given  them  some  knowledge  of  the  conduct  of 
a  trial  in  Court. 

Special  Talks  and  Informal  Discussions 

Special  talks  and  informal  discussions  upon  a  variety 
of  subjects  occupy  a  prominent  place  in  many  Club 
programs.  Often  a  special  speaker  is  brought  in  from 
the  outside  and  the  girls  are  thus  given  the  opportunity 
of  hearing  what  an  expert  has  to  say  about  his  own 
work.  Or,  perhaps,  a  subject  of  general  interest  is 
announced  ahead  for  discussion — under  the  leadership 
of  one  or  two  of  the  Club  girls  and  at  the  following 
meeting  the  girls  come  ready  to  discuss  the  chosen  sub- 
ject. This  kind  of  Club  activity  broadens  the  interests 
of  the  girls  and  is  of  direct  educational  value.  In  Clubs 
of  very  young  girls,  as  well  as  in  those  of  older  girls, 
these  talks  have  been  introduced  with  profit  and  popu- 
larity. They  may  occur  as  often  as  once  a  month  if  the 
subjects  chosen  are  of  vital  interest  and  are  presented 
in  such  a  way  as  to  appeal  to  the  girls.  A  wide  range 
of  subjects  has  been  used  in  Girls'  Clubs,  even  as  the 
interests  of  members  are  many  and  varied. 


ACTIVITIES  THAT  INTEREST  GIRLS      155 


Topics  Chosen  for  Special  Talks  and  Informal 
Discussions 

I.  The  Girls'  Physical  Development. 

The  foot  and  footwear. 

Digestion  and  diet. 

Constipation,  menstruation. 

Control  of  nerves. 

Reproduction. 

Sex  hygeine. 

Health  as  it  affects  appearance  and  real  attractiveness. 

Physical  exercise  in  its  relation  to  beauty,  health,  and 
social  attractiveness. 

Personal  and  family  hygeine. 

Games  and  their  Significance  (from  the  Y.  W.  C.  A. 
pamphlet  "Social  and  Mission  Programs  for 
School  Girl  Associations  and  Clubs"). 

a.  Games  and  their  significance. 

b.  Types  of  games  and  the  spirit  of  play. 

c.  Games  of  all  nations. 

Health. 

a.  A  healthy  body. 

b.  A  healthy  mind. 

c.  All-around  health  as  a  life  value. 

d.  A  healthy  community. 

Recreation.    Why  re-create? 

o.  Recreation  of  mind. 

b.  The  good  times  of  a  community. 

c.  The  re-creation  of  a  life  in  Christ. 

Talks  on  First  Aid  to  the  Injured. 

Infant  Mortality. 

Summer  Pleasures. 

The  Right  Kind  of  Vacation. 


156  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

2.  Subjects  Touching  Girls  the  World  Over. 

A  Girl  at  Her  Best.     (From  a  Y.  W.  C.  A.  pamphlet  by 
A.  G.  Moore.) 

a.  Our  best  always. 

b.  A  girl  at  her  best  physically. 

c.  A  girl  at  her  best  mentally. 

d.  A  girl  at  her  best  at  home. 

e.  A  girl  at  her  best  among  her  friends. 
/.  Being  true  to  one's  best  self. 

g.  A  girl  at  her  best  in  church. 

The  best  school  life  in  the  world.    How  can  it  be  shared? 
The  Immigrant  Girl  in  America. 
The  Art  of  Housekeeping  and  Home-making. 
Matrimony. 
Dress. 

Qualities  of  Womanhood. 

a.  Purity. 

b.  Appreciation. 

c.  High  Ideals. 

d.  Cheerfulness. 

Kinds  of  Women. 

a.  The  woman  who  is  always  late. 

b.  The  woman  who  forgets  her  appointments. 

c.  The  woman  who  talks  too  long. 

d.  The  borrower. 

e.  The  woman  who  makes  personal  remarks  over  the 

telephone. 

Famous  Women  and  Points  in  Which  We  may  Imitate 

Them. 
Social  Relationships.   (From  "Social  Ethics"— The  Women's 

Press). 

a.  Being  introduced. 

b.  What  do  you  talk  about? 

c.  Respect  from  the  other  person. 

d.  Spending  his  money. 

e.  Chivalry. 


ACTIVITIES  THAT  INTEREST  GIRLS      157 

Customs  of  Polite  Society. 

a.  The  art  of  conversation. 

b.  Conduct  in  public  places. 

c.  Private  entertainments  and  social  gatherings. 

d.  Customs  of  Oriental  countries  as  contrasted  with 

those  of  our  own  countries. 

Women  and  Girls  in  Industrial  Life. 

a.  Labor  laws. 

b.  Wage-earning  women. 

c.  The  American  city  and  its  industrial  life. 

Some  Camp  Fire  Talks. 

a.  Seek  beauty. 

b.  Give  service. 

c.  Pursue  knowledge. 

d.  Be  trustworthy. 

e.  Hold  on  to  health. 
/.  Glorify  work. 

g.  Be  happy. 

Subjects  of  Interest  to  Clubs  in  the  Country.    (From  "College 
Women  and  Country  Leadership,"  by  Jessie  Field.) 

a.  A  country  community  that  has  achieved  through 

leadership. 

b.  What  the  census  tells  us  about  the  country. 

c.  Plans  for  community  gatherings. 

d.  Ways  for  community  service  in  the  country. 

e.  My  dream  of  an  ideal  country  community. 

/.  Modern  Sunday-school  plans  and  how  they  may  be 
used  in  a  country  Sunday-school. 

g.  The  story  of  a  community-serving  country  church. 

h.  The  country  school  and  the  community. 

t.  The  nr  -.1  schools  of  our  State. 

/.  A  modern  country  home. 

k.  The  extension  work  being  done  with  country  women 
of  our  State. 

/.  The  best  farmer  I  have  known. 


i58  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

m.  Making  two  blades  of  grass  grow  where  one  has 

grown  before. 

n.  How  can  country  people  get  time  to  play? 
o.  The  country  life  of  to-morrow. 

The  Club. 

The  purpose  of  our  Club  and  the  characteristics  of 

a  good  member. 
Fun  in  the  Club. 
Work  in  the  Club. 
Business  meetings. 
A  night  in  the  Club. 
The  Club  in  summer. 


CHAPTER  VII 
THE  QUESTION  OF  CLASSES 

THE  problem  of  the  definite  class  work  of  a  Club 
presents  itself  to  most  Leaders.  Many  have  found  that 
such  definite  educational  work  produces  more  tangible 
results  than  any  other  activity.  If  a  class  in  dress- 
making is  added  to  the  activities,  for  example,  and  a 
girl  learns  how  to  make  her  own  clothes,  this  training 
is  a  tangible,  personal  benefit  derived  from  the  Club 
and  in  its  practical  usefulness  a  continual  reminder  of 
the  Club  and  its  good  work.  Class  work  trains  the 
girls*  minds,  2nd  often  their  hands.  Class  study  gives 
them  useful  knowledge,  presented  in  logical  order.  Be- 
cause it  is  progressive,  and  there  is  something  new  to 
be  offered  each  week,  class  work  has  often  proved  a 
valuable  means  of  holding  the  Club  girls.  If,  therefore, 
part  of  the  Club's  time  can  be  invested  in  class  work  of 
such  a  nature  to  appeal  to  the  girls  and  be  useful  to 
them,  the  Leader  may  well  feel  that  such  time  has  been 
well  spent. 

Some  object  to  such  definite  educational  work  because 
they  feel  sure  that  their  girls  will  not  join  classes.  They 
do  not  wish  to  propose  the  plan  because  they  are  con- 
vinced that  some  of  the  members  will  leave  the  Club 
rather  than  be  forced  into  class  work.  Leaders  of  work- 


160  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

ing  Girls'  Clubs  know  that  many  of  their  girls  have  left 
school  just  because  they  were  tired  of  the  lessons. 
Further  education,  these  Leaders  say,  must  be  made 
incidental  to  the  Club's  activities  and  not  given  through 
a  formal  class;  on  the  other  hand,  when  the  Club  mem- 
bers are  still  in  school,  many  a  Leader  feels  that  they 
already  have  sufficient  class  work. 

These  are  some  of  the  problems  surrounding  the 
question  of  classes.  It  is  true  that  too  often  girls  are 
not  interested  in  study  or  class  work.  Yet  it  is  often 
possible  to  arouse  the  necessary  interest  and  ambition. 
The  skilful  Leader  who  can  make  a  girl  wish  to  study 
and  learn  has  made  a  valuable  contribution  to  that  girl's 
development.  Awakening  ambition  is  a  first  step  which 
may  lead  to  greater  things  than  any  other  Club  activity 
can  accomplish.  Never  to  make  the  attempt,  not  to 
offer  the  opportunity  of  class  work,  may  be  to  deprive 
a  Club's  members  of  the  very  chance  which  they  need. 
No  matter  what  type  of  girl  is  being  considered,  there 
is  sure  to  be  some  kind  of  educational  work  which  she 
can  profitably  do.  Many  courses  have  been  planned  for 
Girls'  Clubs,  covering  a  wide  range  of  subjects.  The 
Leader  who  selects  for  class  work  a  subject  within  the 
mental  grasp  of  her  girls  and  adapted  to  their  needs 
will  often  meet  with  an  unexpectedly  cordial  response. 

To  be  sure,  there  will  often  be  some  members  who 
strenuously  object  to  work  of  this  kind.  Any  attempt 
to  force  it  upon  them  may  indeed  send  them  away  from 
the  Club.  But  provision  can  be  made  to  keep  these  girls 
happy  in  the  Club  life,  and  their  objections  need  not 
stand  in  the  way  of  carrying  out  the  plan.  A  large 
Club  may  offer  a  choice  of  subjects  to  be  studied,  and 


THE  QUESTION  OF  CLASSES  161 

at  the  same  time  give  the  unwilling  ones  plenty  to  do 
beside  the  class  work.  Such  a  varied  program  will 
then  appeal  to  all  the  members — to  those  who  desire  the 
class  work,  and  to  those  who  do  not.  In  Clubs  where 
but  one  class  can  be  given,  the  class  session  may  be 
made  but  part  of  the  program.  Thirty  minutes  is,  in 
some  subjects,  often  ample  for  the  presentation  of  a 
carefully  planned  lesson.  The  general  activities  will  then 
still  remain  for  those  who  prefer  these  to  the  class.  And, 
in  some  cases  it  has  proved  that  those  who  at  first 
refused  to  enter  the  class  work  have  been  eventually 
drawn  to  it,  because  they  are  there  and  "might  as  well." 
Making  the  class  work  appeal  to  her  particular  group 
of  girls  and  fit  into  her  own  Club  is  the  task  of  the 
Leader.  A  study  of  the  subjects  which  have  been  given 
in  Girls'  Clubs  and  of  the  methods  which  have  been  used 
to  hold  the  interest  of  the  girls  will  help  her  in  solving 
the  problem. 

The  Club  Curriculum 

What  Kind  of  Classes  to  Offer.  Many  kinds  of  classes 
have  been  given  in  Girls'  Clubs.  Before  any  Leader 
offers  study  in  any  subject  to  her  girls,  she  should  ask 
herself  the  following  questions:  Do  the  girls  need  it? 
Have  we  proper  facilities  for  conducting  it?  Can  I 
teach  it  myself,  or  get  a  competent  instructor?  Before 
promising  to  give  the  girls  a  class,  it  is  far  better  to 
make  sure  that  the  plan  can  be  carried  out.  To  make 
no  mention  of  it  is  better  than  to  awaken  the  girls'  in- 
terest, and  then — when  it  is  found  that  the  class  cannot 
be  given — disappoint  that  interest.  Such  a  disappoint- 


162  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

ment  has  a  bad  effect  upon  the  response  which  the  Club 
members  will  give  to  any  future  suggestions  for  class 
work. 

So,  before  inaugurating  a  class,  the  wise  Leader  care- 
fully considers  what  equipment  will  be  necessary  and 
whether  she  can  obtain  it.  An  instructor  is  needed  who 
will  stand  by  until  the  course  is  completed.  This  latter 
requirement  is  one  which  is  especially  understood  by 
those  who  must  rely  upon  volunteer  service !  More  than 
this,  the  instructor  should  be  able  to  teach  her  subject. 
Girls  will  be  better  off  without  any  instruction  at  all 
than  with  the  wrong  kind.  The  amount  of  necessary 
equipment  is  another  consideration.  Some  kinds  of 
classes  require  more  than  others.  Consider  always  what 
is  the  indispensable  equipment.  A  little  ingenuity  will 
often  devise  plans  for  giving  a  Class,  even  when  the 
equipment  is  not  ideal.  A  New  York  Club  of  girls  was 
very  eager  to  have  a  cooking  class.  The  Leader  knew 
that  it  would  be  impossible  to  give  the  class  in  the  ideal 
way:  a  burner  for  each  girl.  But  the  interest  of  the 
girls  led  her  to  secure  an  instructor  who  gave  lessons 
by  the  demonstration  method.  The  girls  assisted  her, 
and  received  instructions  which  they  could  later  carry 
out  at  home.  The  equipment  in  this  case  was  limited, 
but  that  did  not  prevent  the  Club  Leader  from  offering 
a  valuable  cooking  class. 

Just  which  kind  of  subject  shall  be  selected  depends 
primarily  upon  the  type  of  girl  in  the  Club.  In  general, 
the  Club  classes  can  be  considered  in  two  divisions — 
those  in  which  the  girls  work  with  their  hands  and  those 
which  require  book  study.  Where  several  different  sub- 
jects can  be  offered,  both  kinds  should  be  represented, 


THE  QUESTION  OP  CLASSES  163 

each  girl  choosing  the  kind  in  which  she  is  especially 
interested. 

Moreover,  wise  Club  Leaders  will  ascertain  what  com- 
munity educational  opportunities  are  already  offered  to 
her  girls.  In  some  cases,  duplication  is  unwise  and  even 
harmful.  Other  better  means  for  certain  classes  may 
have  been  provided  than  the  Club  channels.  The  char- 
acter of  the  educational  opportunities  already  existing 
within  easy  access  of  her  girls  should  be  known  to  the 
Club  Leader  who  is  considering  extensive  class  work. 
For  it  is  sometimes  preferable  to  send  the  girls  to  outside 
classes  rather  than  to  start  such  within  the  Club.  The 
Club  can  then  offer  work  in  new  and  needed  subjects. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  kind  of  class  which  she  is 
planning  may  not  involve  serious  duplication.  Her  girls 
may  be  the  kind  who  would  not  go  elsewhere  for  any 
educational  work.  There  may  be  other  available  courses 
in  dressmaking,  but  the  girls  may  wish  to  take  the  sub- 
ject in  the  Club  and  not  be  willing  to  enter  an  outside 
class.  In  such  cases,  the  class  in  the  Club  meets  a  direct 
need  and  should  be  given. 

The  following  list  of  the  many  classes  which  have  been 
given  in  Girls'  Club  is  full  of  suggestion : 

Domestic  Arts. 

Art  Embroidery. 

Knitting. 

Crochet. 

Dressmaking. 

Millinery. 

Homemaking. 

Household  Demonstration. 


164  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

Cooking. 

Interior  Decorating. 

Novelty  Classes. 

Bead  Work. 
Christmas  Presents. 
Hammock  and  Rug  Weaving. 
Jewelry. 
Paper  Work. 

Language:  Written  and  Spoken. 
Business  English. 
English  Grammar. 
English  Literature. 
Elocution. 

Dramatic  Expression. 
French. 
German. 
Spanish. 

How  and  What  to  Read. 
The  Short  Story. 

Business  Courses. 

Bookkeeping. 

Business  Efficiency. 

Memory  Training. 

Salesmanship. 

Stenography  and  Typewriting. 

The  Romance  of  Modern  Manufacture. 

Musical  Courses. 

Choral  Work. 
Glee  Club  Work. 


THE  QUESTION  OF  CLASSES  165 

Course  in  Opera  Music. 
Course  in  Orchestra  Music. 
Musical  Appreciation. 
Musical  Composers. 

Art  Courses. 

Art  Appreciation. 
American  Painting. 
Poster  Class. 
Water  Color  Class. 

Red  Cross  Courses. 

First  Aid  to  the  Injured. 

Hygiene  and  Home  Care  of  the  Sick. 

Dietetics. 

Surgical  Dressings. 

Physical  Care  and  Development. 
Dancing  Classes. 

Folk  Dancing. 

Esthetic  Dancing. 

Social  Dancing. 
Gymnasium  Classes. 
Health  Lectures. 
First  Aid  to  Beauty. 
Massage. 
Manicuring. 
Swimming. 

Civic  Training  Courses. 
Current  Events. 
Know  Your  City. 
Know  Your  State  and  Nation. 
Parliamentary  Drill. 


166  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

Social  Ethics. 

Customs  and  Courtesies. 

Personality. 

Conversation. 

Miscellaneous. 

Women  of  Yesterday  and  To-day. 

Stars,  and  Indian  Legends  about  Them. 

Birds  and  Plants. 

Travel. 

Ten  Great  Religions. 

Advertising  the  Class 

When  the  Leader  has  chosen  the  Class  which  is  to 
be  given,  or  has  suggested  several  to  the  Club  and  they 
have  selected  one,  her  task  is  then  to  awaken  the  interest 
and  desire  of  all  her  girls  for  it.  That  Club  Leader 
is  indeed  fortunate  who  has  numerous  requests  for 
class  work,  or  who  meets  with  an  unanimous  response 
when  she  suggests  a  plan.  Many  Leaders  face  the  prob- 
lem of  making  their  girls  wish  to  learn.  Such  a  wish 
can  often  be  aroused  by  attractive  advertising.  Printed 
circulars  announcing  the  opening  of  the  class  or  classes 
are  a  good  means  of  arousing  interest.  A  plain  state- 
ment of  the  fact  of  the  starting  of  the  class  may  bring 
forth  no  response  at  all.  Take  the  same  material,  how- 
ever, head  the  circular  with  some  "catch"  phrase  such 
as  "What  about  your  spare  time?" — describe  the  classes 
in  an  attractive  manner — and  the  circular  will  make  the 
girls  want  to  come  to  the  class  to  see  what  it  is  all  about. 
The  circular  which  appears  opposite  was  used  by  the 
Women's  League  of  the  John  Wanamaker  Store,  Phila- 


THE  QUESTION  OF  CLASSES  167 

delphia,  and  proved  a  great  aid  in  the  task  of  enrolling 
new  class  members. 


WHY  JOIN  THE  WOMEN'S  LEAGUE? 
BECAUSE 

in  the  classes  you  have   an   opportunity  to  learn. 

Do  you  wish  to  be  informed  on  every-day  happen- 
ings? Then  come  to  our  Current  Events  Class 
and  hear  the  discussions. 

Keep  well  and  strong  and  beautiful.  Exercise  in 
our  Physical  Training  and  Dancing  Classes. 
Apply  First  Aid  to  Beauty  in  our  Manicuring 
Class. 

The  alert  business  girl  should  know  what  to  say  and 
how  to  say  it.  You  will  find  practical  help  in 
the  Business  English,  Literature,  and  Elocution 
Classes. 

Stenography  is  a  useful  business  subject. 

Our  soldiers  are  going  to  France.  Why  not  study 
French  at  home  and  be  able  to  write  to  them 
and  to  talk  to  them  when  they  come  back? 

In  response  to  a  growing  interest  in  Spanish,  we 
offer  a  class  in  that  subject. 

First  Aid  to  the  Injured  will  give  you  a  valuable 
training  for  Home  Service,  in  time  of  peace  as 
well  as  in  time  of  war. 

Help  us  to  make  this  the  best  year  the  Women's 
League  has  ever  known. 

We  are  responding  to  the  wish  of  the  Commissioner 
of  Education  at  Washington,  when  he  said,  "It 
is  of  the  utmost  importance  that  during  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  war,  and  through  the  years 
immediately  following,  there  be  no  lowering  in 
the  efficiency  of  our  systems  of  education. — 
Therefore,  no  school  should  close  its  doors  now 
or  shorten  its  term  unnecessarily." 


i68  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

Posters  are  also  an  excellent  means  of  attracting  girls 
to  the  classes.  Pictures,  short  rhymes,  striking  phrases 
— all  of  these  help  in  the  publicity  work. 

"Dancing  is  a  useful  art, 

There's  none  of  us  would  doubt  it, 
So  join  our  class  on  Monday  nights 
And  thus  learn  all  about  it!" 

What  girl  wouldn't  stop  to  read  such  a  poster,  smile — 
and  go  away  thinking  about  the  class? 

A  New  York  City  Club  has  had  a  good  plan  of  in- 
troducing new  classes  into  its  work.  At  a  special  party 
or  meeting  of  the  Club,  an  expert  in  the  work  which 
the  class  is  to  take  up  is  invited  to  be  present.  In  the 
course  of  the  evening,  this  expert  demonstrates  her  work 
and  tells  the  girls  about  it.  A  jewelry  craftsman  once 
came  to  the  Club  in  this  way.  She  told  the  girls  about 
jewelry-making,  and  as  they  watched  her  she  took  a 
piece  of  silver  and  worked  upon  it.  The  girls  eagerly 
crowded  around  her,  asking  many  questions.  The 
Leader  then  asked  how  many  of  the  Club  girls  would 
like  to  take  up  such  work.  An  energetic,  interested  class 
was  at  once  formed.  Had  the  Leader  suggested  "jewelry- 
making"  to  her  girls,  without  first  showing  them  what 
it  meant,  they  would  probably  have  had  no  interest. 

A  large  Club  in  Philadelphia  which  annually  offers 
twenty  or  more  courses  starts  its  educational  year  with 
a  mass  meeting  at  which  the  members  themselves  speak, 
telling  of  the  benefits  which  they  have  received  from 
the  classes.  Announcement  is  made  of  the  plans  for 
the  coming  year,  and  registration  slips  are  passed  out 
to  the  young  women  attending  the  meeting.  Exhibits 


THE  QUESTION  OF  CLASSES  169 

of  work  done  in  the  classes  have  been  shown  at  these 
meetings  and  have  aroused  great  interest.  Such  methods 
as  these,  which  have  been  successfully  tried,  show  that 
"it  pays  to  advertise" — in  Club  work  as  well  as  in  other 
fields. 

Interesting  the  Girls  in  the  Class  Work 

The  girls'  active  interest  in  the  work  which  the  class 
is  doing  plays  an  important  part  in  the  success  of  the 
plan.  In  any  activity  where  the  attendance  is  voluntary, 
it  is  interest  which  holds  the  girls.  So  it  is  that  a  wise 
Club  Leader  takes  advantage  of  the  current  interests 
and  desires  of  the  girls  to  arouse  enthusiasm  for  the 
class.  The  ways  in  which  Leaders  have  gained  and  held 
the  attention  of  their  girls  are  helpful  and  suggestive. 
The  following  pages  show  how  some  have  adventured 
in  this  field. 

Millinery  and  Dressmaking.  One  Club  Leader  has 
said  that  she  takes  advantage  of  seasonal  interest  to  keep 
her  girls  in  the  Domestic  Arts  courses.  Early  Spring 
and  Fall  have  been  splendid  times  to  renew  zeal  for 
Millinery  and  Dressmaking.  "Make  your  own  Fall  hat 
and  save  money"  is  an  appeal  which  reaches  many  a 
young  woman,  particularly  the  one  who  is  earning  her 
own  living.  In  the  Spring — and  Fall,  too — a  young 
girl's  fancy  lightly  turns  to  thoughts  of  clothes,  and 
the  dressmaking  class  becomes  important  to  her.  The 
appeal  of  dressmaking  can  be  presented  in  many  ways. 
In  one  class,  where  the  girls  showed  little  interest  in 
drafting  patterns,  the  instructor  got  a  full-to-overflowing 
class  by  announcing :  "Make  anything  you  wish.  Bring 


i;o  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

your  last  year's  clothes  and  make  them  over."  Another 
Leader,  in  a  Club  of  younger  girls,  introduced  sewing 
with  her  fourteen-,  fifteen-,  and  sixteen-year-olds  by  an- 
nouncing a  doll-dressing  contest.  Each  girl  who  came 
into  the  class  was  given  a  doll,  for  which  she  was  to 
make  a  complete  set  of  clothes  in  a  way  which  should 
be  satisfactory  to  the  instructor  in  charge;  the  doll  and 
its  clothes  to  be  given  to  her  when  her  task  was  properly 
completed.  A  final  exhibition  was  held  and  prizes  were 
given  to  the  best  three  outfits.  The  outcome  of  this 
popular  class  was  a  request  from  many  members  for 
a  shirtwaist  class — a  request  which,  it  is  needless  to  say, 
was  promptly  acted  on  by  the  Leader. 

Crochet,  Art  Embroidery  and  "Christmas  Presents." 
In  the  Fall  of  the  year  most  girls  are  looking  toward 
Christmas  and  planning  presents,  and  at  this  season 
crochet  and  art-embroidery  classes  are  especially  popular. 
Many  girls  will  join  such  classes  when  they  are  reminded 
that  their  friends  value  highly  those  presents  which 
they  have  made  with  their  own  hands.  One  Club  Leader 
offered  what  she  called  a  "Christmas  Present  Class." 
The  teacher  in  charge  knew  how  to  make  many  fancy 
articles,  inexpensive,  dainty,  and  useful.  Some  of  the 
class  sewed  and  embroidered,  while  others  made  baskets 
and  boxes  with  the  Dennison  Company's  paper  materials. 
The  class  met  in  the  autumn  for  eight  lessons  only,  yet 
the  amount  of  work  done  was  surprising. 

Cooking.  One  Leader  took  advantage  of  a  "high 
price"  season  to  start  what  she  called  a  "Hard-Times 
Cooking  Class."  "Learn  to  save  money  in  the  kitchen" 
was  the  slogan  for  the  course.  Response  came  from 
Older  girls  who  had  already  kept  house  as  well  as  from 


Exterior 


Interior 

A  COMMUNITY  BUNGALOW  BUILT  BY  THE  CAMP  FIRE  GIRLS 
OF  PAWLING,  N.  Y. 


THE  QUESTION  OF  CLASSES         ,     171 

the  inexperienced.  Besides  giving  sensible  receipts  the 
instructor  was  able  to  introduce  many  valuable  lessons 
on  food  values  and  the  proper  balancing  of  meals. 

Another  Club  Leader  successfully  introduced  a  lunch- 
hour  Cooking  Class  among  the  younger  girls  of  a  large 
store.  The  course  was  given  by  the  demonstration 
method,  the  instructor  appointing  two  assistants  from  the 
class  for  each  lesson.  Only  thirty  minutes  was  allowed 
for  each  lesson,  so  the  instructor  often  found  it  neces- 
sary, before  the  class  came  together,  to  partly  cook  the 
dishes  to  be  made.  Each  class  member,  however,  re- 
ceived a  copy  of  every  receipt  demonstrated  and  was 
urged  to  try  making  it  at  home.  On  a  large  card,  hung 
on  the  wall,  were  registered  the  names  of  all  the  mem- 
bers. At  the  opening  of  each  session,  the  roll  was  called, 
and  a  silver  star  was  placed  after  the  name  of  every 
girl  who  had  induced  her  mother  to  cook  the  receipt 
used  at  last  week's  lesson.  A  gold  star  was  given  to 
any  girl  who  had  herself  prepared  the  dish.  A  "mothers' 
party,"  given  at  the  close  of  the  course,  revealed  the 
fact  that  the  majority  of  these  reports  had  been  honest 
and  that  the  printed  receipts  had  actually  been  experi- 
mented upon  in  the  homes  of  the  class  members. 

Homemaking  Course.  Another  Club  Leader,  noticing 
a  number  of  engagement  rings  in  her  group,  drew  up 
a  Homemaking  Course,  in  which  was  discussed  the  prob- 
lem of  making  a  pleasant,  artistic,  healthful  home.  She 
found  her  girls  especially  interested  in  making  posters 
representing  the  various  rooms  of  the  home.  Samples 
of  wall-paper  (or  paint)  and  appropriate  hangings  were 
pasted  on  the  poster,  as  well  as  pictures  of  suitable 
furniture,  cut  from  furniture  catalogues.  With  a  knowl- 


172  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

edge  of  her  girls  and  their  ideas  of  homemaking,  to- 
gether with  the  books  on  the  subject,  almost  any  re- 
sourceful Leader  can  plan  a  valuable  course  in  this 
subject. 

The  following  list  of  subjects,  from  which  Leaders 
may  choose,  is  suggested  by  the  National  Society  for  the 
Promotion  of  Industrial  Education,  Bulletin  Number  23 : 

1.  Foods. 

Purchase  and  care  of  foods. 

Preparation  of  three  home  meals. 

Serving  of  meals. 

Preparation  of  the  school  or  the  dinner-pail  luncheon. 

Food  for  infants,  growing  children,  and  aged  people. 

Nutritive  value  of  foods. 

Invalid  cookery. 

Use  of  meat  substitutes  and  left-overs. 

Canning  and  preserving. 

Planning  menus. 

Use  of  the  fireless  cooker. 

Pure  food  legislation. 

2.  Care  of  the  House. 

Simple  methods  of  cleaning  wood,  metal,  china,  glass. 

Use  of  disinfectants,  deodorants,  and  exterminators. 

Cleansing  of  pipes,  traps  and  drains. 

Care  of  refrigerator. 

Cleaning  the  cellar. 

Cleaning  furnished  rooms. 

Labor-saving  devices  and  equipment. 

3.  Health. 

Personal  hygiene. 

Care  of  infants. 

Home  nursing. 

First  aid  to  the  injured. 

Food  and  clothing  in  their  relation  to  health. 

Municipal  health  regulations. 


THE  QUESTION  OF  CLASSES  173 

4.  Clothing. 

How  to  choose  underwear— what  to  buy— what  not  to  buy. 

Purchase  of  ready-to-wear  clothing. 

Making  of  infants'  and  children's  clothing. 

Making  of  shirtwaists,  skirts  and  housedresses. 

Use    of    commercial    patterns    for    garment-making    and 

dressmaking. 

Mending  and  remodeling. 
Renovating  and  cleansing  clothing. 
Laundering. 
Millinery — renovating   and   remaking   hats;    making   and 

trimming  hats. 

5.  House-planning  and  household  decoration. 

Arrangement  of  the  house  for  comfort  and  efficiency. 

Arrangement  of  a  convenient  kitchen. 

Selection  and  arrangement  of  furniture  for  living-room, 
dining-room  and  bedrooms,  with  reference  to  comfort 
and  attractiveness  and  to  economy  of  time  in  the 
care  of  these. 

Draperies. 

Wall  finishes. 

Floor  coverings  and  finishes. 

Renovation  of  household  furnishings. 

6.  Budget. 

The  Personal  Budget. 

The  Family  Budget — how  to  plan  and  keep  expenditures 

within  the  household  budget. 
Household  accounting. 
Teaching  children  the  value  and  use  of  money. 

7.  Household  management. 

Scheduling  the  work  of  the  household. 

Dividing  labor  and  directing  others — teaching  the  children 

to  work  and  to  take  responsibility. 
Directing  household  employees. 
Short  cuts  in  the  household  work. 


174  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

This  extensive  list  of  subjects  was  drawn  up  as  one 
from  which  those  making  such  courses  could  choose.  A 
shorter  homemaking  course  was  given  in  the  Girls'  Club 
with  the  following  lessons: 

i.  and  2.  Color  and  color  combinations. 

3.  Making  the  living-room  attractive. 

4.  Making  the  dining-room  attractive. 

5.  Making  the  bedrooms  attractive. 

6.  Making  the  kitchen  practical. 


Classes  Requiring  Home  Study 

English.  It  is  often  far  more  difficult  for  a  Leader 
to  introduce  classes  which  require  study  than  to  arouse 
interest  in  those  where  the  work  is  done  largely  with 
the  hands.  Courses  which  call  for  study  and  preparation 
outside  the  classroom  make  many  demands  upon  an  in- 
structor's ingenuity.  The  class  members  must  not  be- 
come discouraged,  and  their  interest  must  be  kept  alive 
to  an  extent  which  will  make  them  wish  to  study.  One 
Club,  which  had  unsuccessfully  tried  for  several  years 
to  introduce  the  study  of  English,  at  last  fostered  a  suc- 
cessful class,  because  the  instructor  whom  they  obtained 
brought  the  work  into  direct  relation  with  the  girls'  lives. 
On  connection  with  the  grammar  study,  she  took  up 
"Common  blunders  we  hear  every  day."  And  a  part 
of  each  lesson  was  given  to  a  consideration  of  the 
blunders  which  the  girls  had  heard  during  the  week. 
Synonym  drill  was  the  occasion  of  much  merriment  but 
it  also  gave  the  girls  an  enlarged  vocabulary.  The 
"spell-down"  method  was  used  not  only  for  spelling  but 


THE  QUESTION  OF  CLASSES  175 

also  for  drill  in  pronunciation  and  sentence  structure. 
The  girl  who  could  not  correct  the  sentences  given 
orally  by  the  instructor  was  forced  to  go  to  her  seat. 
The  oral  and  written  work  in  this  class  was  upon  subjects 
which  touched  nearly  every  phase  of  the  girls*  lives. 
Here  are  typical  assignments  for  short  written  themes : 

1.  Write  a  letter  telling  me  about  your  work.     What 
part  of  your  work  is  most  interesting  to  you? 

2.  If  you  could  have  any  kind  of  position,  what  would 
you  choose  and  why? 

3.  What  are  ideal  habits  of  health  for  the  young  girl  ? 

4.  Why  ought  a  girl  to  form  the  habit  of  saving?    How 
can  she  form  the  habit  ? 

Such  assignments  as  these  brought  up  for  class  dis- 
cussion subjects  of  vital  importance  in  the  development 
of  the  girls.  The  instructor's  suggestions  often  brought 
out  other  original  ideas.  One  telephone  operator  wrote 
a  splendid  theme  on  "People  I  have  never  seen."  The 
instructor's  success  was  due  to  the  fact  that  she  related 
the  English  study  directly  to  the  lives  of  the  class  members. 

The  way  in  which  another  Club  Leader  introduced 
English  is  interesting.  She  overheard  a  number  of  her 
girls  discussing  letter-writing.  They  all  said  that  they 
didn't  know  how  to  write  good  letters  but  they  wished 
they  could  learn.  The  Leader  at  once  proposed  the  in- 
troduction of  a  "letter-writing"  class.  The  girls  received 
the  idea  with  enthusiasm.  Around  the  central  idea  of 
letter-writing,  the  Leader  then  grouped  actual  grammar 
study.  Taking  advantage  of  her  girls'  spontaneous  in- 
terest, she  was  able  to  accomplish  her  own  real  .purpose. 

Current  Events.    In  another  Club,  a  Leader  was  able 


176  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

to  develop  an  interest  in  reading  and  study  by  means 
of  a  Current  Events  Class.  She  had  come  into  contact 
with  a  group  of  girls  who  said  they  didn't  have  time 
for  study  and  would  not  join  a  class  because  they  were 
afraid  they  would  be  "called  on."  The  Leader  sug- 
gested that  they  meet  for  a  discussion  of  Current  Events. 
The  girls  seemed  interested  and  agreed  to  meet  for  the 
class  if  she  would  not  call  on  them!  During  the  early 
lessons,  the  Leader  took  them  at  their  word  and  the 
class  work  consisted  of  a  talk  on  Current  Events  given 
by  herself.  When  the  girls  seemed  to  feel  more  at  home, 
the  Leader  began  gradually  to  suggest  problems  for 
their  consideration.  "What  would  you  do,  in  this  situa- 
tion, if  you  were  President  of  the  United  States?"  she 
would  casually  ask.  The  girls  soon  began  to  volunteer 
answers.  It  was  not  long  before  they  were  bringing  in 
clippings  on  subjects  which  had  been  mentioned  in  class. 
The  Leader  no  longer  did  all  the  talking,  for  the  class 
members  were  soon  exclaiming,  "Oh,  I  saw  that  in  the 
paper !"  The  next  step  occurred  when  she  put  questions 
directly  to  the  girls.  When  they  answered,  she  would 
raise  objections,  thus  precipitating  informal  discussions. 
About  this  time,  she  asked  for  a  written  expression  from 
the  class,  telling  her  what  work  the  class  would  prefer 
continuing.  To  her  surprise,  a  number  of  the  class 
requested  an  assignment  of  work.  The  Leader  then 
organized  the  class,  dividing  it  into  groups,  making  each 
group  responsible  for  a  weekly  report  on  a  certain  type 
of  news.  A  bulletin  board  was  put  up  and  each  group 
was  further  responsible  for  clippings  for  the  board.  The 
divisions  of  the  class  for  news-gathering  were  as  follows : 


THE  QUESTION  OF  CLASSES  177 

Foreign  news,  National,  State,  Civic,  Literature  and  Art, 
Science,  Invention. 

One  girl,  who  on  her  own  initiative  was  to  report  on 
the  free  lectures  given  in  the  city,  secured  tickets  to  a 
certain  lecture  and  took  the  entire  class  with  her.  Special 
speakers,  brought  in  to  speak  upon  subjects  of  interest, 
aroused  fresh  enthusiasm  for  the  class.  At  election  time, 
ballots  were  made  by  the  class  and  an  election  took  place. 
The  class  was  elated  when  its  choice  for  President  was 
the  same  as  that  of  the  nation!  The  Leader  also  intro- 
duced into  this  class  practice  in  parliamentary  drill  and 
a  short  coursje  in  civics.  The  parliamentary  drill  enables 
each  girl  to  understand  thoroughly  the  correct  method 
of  conducting  a  business  meeting.  The  course  in  civics 
definitely  covered  a  study  of  their  city's  machinery  of 
government,  thus  giving  the  class  members  a  new  under- 
standing of  the  significance  of  the  city's  current  events. 

Red  Cross  Course  in  First  Aid  to  the  Injured.  The 
courses  offered  by  the  National  Red  Cross  seem  to  have 
a  special  appeal  for  girls.  The  subjects — First  Aid  to 
the  Injured,  Home  Hygiene,  and  Dietetics — interest  the 
average  girl.  They  have  been  carefully  planned  by  ex- 
perts, and  textbooks  can  be  obtained  at  small  cost.  That 
the  certificates,  awarded  to  all  who  pass  the  examinations, 
have  upon  them  facsimiles  of  the  signature  of  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States  seems  to  arouse  a  general 
desire  to  possess  them.  In  teaching  these  Red  Cross 
courses,  it  is  possible  to  emphasize  many  simple  lessons 
in  the  care  of  the  person  which  every  girl  should  know. 
A  certain  Leader  took  immediate  occasion  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  war  to  push  all  Red  Cross  classes.  Another 
Leader  objected  to  this,  saying  that  these  Club  girls 


178  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

could  never  go  into  a  hospital  and  use  their  nursing 
training. 

"What  of  that?"  responded  the  first  Leader.  "These 
courses  are  teaching  them  to  have  better  homes  and  to 
take  better  care  of  themselves.  And  that  is  Home 
Service,  isn't  it?" 

This  great  advantage  of  the  Red  Cross  courses — that 
they  train  the  pupils  for  Home  Service — is  important. 
Another  point  is  that  by  joining  the  classes  the  girls  are 
taking  an  active  part  in  a  world-wide  movement;  girls 
in  touch  with  Red  Cross  work  find  their  interests  taken 
far  beyond  their  own  immediate  surroundings. 

Many  Leaders  have  found  it  comparatively  easy  to 
arouse  interest  in  the  Red  Cross  courses.  The  Leader 
of  one  Working  Girls'  Club  found  that  her  members 
responded  immediately  to  the  idea  of  a  First-Aid  class 
when  she  told  them  that  graduates  of  women's  colleges 
all  over  the  United  States  were  studying  that  identical 
course,  and  were  working  for  the  same  certificates;  this 
fact  seemed  to  give  the  course  a  special  value  in  their 
eyes.  In  one  club-house,  where  girls  were  occasionally 
taken  ill,  the  Leader  never  let  prompt  action  of  a  First- 
Aid  graduate  pass  without  remarking  upon  it  to  all  the 
girls  nearby.  As  this  Club  had  a  number  of  First  Aid 
graduates,  it  nearly  always  happened  that  when  a  girl 
fainted  one  of  them  appeared  promptly  on  the  scene 
to  open  the  windows  and  get  the  crowd  cleared  away 
before  the  Leader  herself  could  get  there.  When  the 
sick  girl  had  been  cared  for,  the  Leader  would  often 
say:  "Isn't  it  splendid  that  Miss  So-and-So  knew  just 
what  to  do  ?  She  learned  it  in  our  First  Aid  Class.  Have 
you  girls  ever  thought  of  joining  that  class?"  etc.,  etc. 


THE  QUESTION  OF  CLASSES  179 

So,  while  the  attention  of  the  girls  was  fixed  upon  the 
practical  benefits  of  the  course,  this  Leader  turned  that 
attention  to  the  matter  of  taking  up  the  work  for  them- 
selves. 

The  graduates  of  the  First  Aid  course  in  a  large  store 
Club  were  often  able  to  give  help  not  only  to  their  fel- 
low employees  but  also  to  customers.  One  department 
head  suggested  that  these  graduates  be  officially  listed 
and  every  department  notified  about  them.  His  idea 
was  that  they  could  then  be  called  upon  for  assistance 
in  case  of  sudden  illness  when  it  was  impossible  for 
the  store  nurse  to  arrive  quickly.  The  list  was  prepared 
and  circulated.  The  fact  that  the  Red  Cross  certificate 
was  recognized  by  the  chiefs  of  the  store  aroused  fresh 
interest  in  the  class  and  brought  in  new  members. 

Adapting  the  Classes  to  the  Girls 

Club  Leaders  have  often  found  that  the  kinds  of 
classes  most  generally  given  are  not  suited  to  their  girls. 
Members  are  not  interested  in  dressmaking,  cooking  or 
grammar  classes.  They  wish  something  "new,"  some- 
thing which  they  have  never  before  studied. 

Salesmanship.  It  is  often  possible  to  arouse  the  in- 
terest of  business  girls  in  subjects  which  relate  to  success 
in  business.  Salesmanship  classes  have  attracted  many 
ambitious  salesgirls.  The  points  and  problems  discussed 
and  the  demonstration  sales  have  all  been  of  very  prac- 
tical value  to  members.  In  the  demonstration  sales,  in 
which  one  member  takes  the  part  of  customer  and 
another  that  of  salesgirl,  the  attention  of  the  class  is 
unusually  keen.  There  are  many  books  on  salesmanship 


i8o  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

which  are  of  practical  help  in  planning  such  a  course. 
One  Leader,  whose  Club  members  were  young  depart- 
ment store  girls,  found  this  demonstration  sale  of  value 
because  the  "acting"  in  it  appealed  to  the  girls'  dramatic 
instincts.  To  be  the  customer — questioning,  hesitant,  or 
even  irritable — that  delighted  their  girlish  hearts ! 


Practical  Ways  of  Teaching  Salesmanship 

The  United  States  Department  of  Education  Bulletin 
Number  9  suggests  such  teaching  points  as  these: 

1.  What  do  you  mean  by  the  "talking  points"  of  an 
article?     Select  the  most  expensive  piece  of  merchan- 
dise in  your  department  and  explain  all  of  its  advantages. 

2.  A  mother  wishes  to  buy  a  dress  for  her  child,  who 
is  with  her.    The  mother  likes  one  style,  the  child  another. 
How  will  you  conduct  the  sale  so  as  to  satisfy  both  ? 

3.  Discuss  in  detail  the  daily  care  which  must  be  given 
to  your  stock  to  keep  it  in  perfect  condition.     Explain 
the  importance  of  well-kept  stock  to  the  store,  the  sales- 
woman, and  the  customer. 

4.  The  following  remarks  of  salespeople  were  over- 
heard by  a  customer.     Discuss  in  full  the  customer's 
probable  impression  of  the  saleswoman  in  each  case,  giv- 
ing reasons  for  your  opinions. 

"You  did  not  ask  for  white  dresses;  you  asked  for 
colored." 

"Look  those  over,  and  when  you  find  what  you  want, 
I'll  have  them  done  up  for  you." 

"This  is  just  the  thing  for  you,  dearie." 

"Don't  you  like  it?    Why  not?" 


THE  QUESTION  OF  CLASSES  181 

5.  Suppose  you  have  three  customers,  one  right  after 
another.     One  is  small,  nervous,  daintily  dressed.     She 
says,  "I  don't  know  what  I  want."    The  second  walks 
slowly  past  the  counter.    "Only  looking,"  she  says.    She 
pauses  to  examine  an  article.     She  is  stout,  capable- 
looking  and  very  determined.    The  third  is  so  tired  she 
can  hardly  walk  to  the  counter.     She  has  a  baby  in 
her  arms  and  is  leading  another  child.    Her  clothes  are 
shabby  and  she  looks  discouraged. — How  would  you  ap- 
proach each  of  these  customers,  and  how  would  you 
give  to  each  a  genuine  service? 

6.  Describe  an  interesting  sale  which  you  have  made 
or  lost  recently.    If  lost,  tell  why  you  think  you  failed. 

Hygiene.  A  Club  Leader  in  New  Jersey  interested 
her  girls  in  this  very  necessary  subject  by  putting  the 
material  for  it  into  a  First  Aid  to  Beauty  course.  The 
name  "hygiene"  would  have  attracted  but  few;  but 
First  Aid  to  Beauty — the  very  phrase  was  full  of 
charm !  The  course  offered  was  practical  and  scientific, 
but  the  constant  relating  of  the  lessons  to  the  question 
of  good  looks  held  the  girls'  attention  from  start  to 
finish.  Some  of  the  points  considered  were  these: 

1.  Eating  as  it  affects  beauty. 

What  to  eat,  how  and  when. 

How  different  foods  nourish  different  parts  of  the  body. 

Processes  of  digestion. 

Constipation;  its  effect  on  beauty. 

Patent  medicines,  good  and  dangerous  kinds. 

Drinking  water,  coffee,  tea,  cocoa. 

2.  Fresh  Air  and  its  effect  on  beauty. 

Why  fresh  air? 

Why  deep  breathing? 

Ventilation  in  stores  and  factories. 


i82  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

Effect  of  dust  in  potteries. 

Exercise;  kinds;  reason  for  it;  developing  exercises. 

3.  Correct  Posture  and  its  effect  on  beauty. 

Advantages  of  correct  posture,  standing,  sitting. 

Backbone,  its  connection  with  all  parts  of  the  body. 

Sleep. 

Balance  between  rest  and  recreation. 

Breaking-down  and  building-up  of  tissues. 

4.  Clothes  and  their  effect  on  beauty. 

Proper  kinds. 

Tight  shoes  and  corsets. 

Good  taste  in  dress. 

Fat  and  thin  people. 

Care  of  the  body  at  special  times. 

5.  Cleanliness  as  it  affects  beauty. 

Care  of  the  skin,  feet,  eyes,  ears,  nose  and  throat. 

6.  Care  of  the  hair. 

Treatment  of  the  scalp. 

Shampoos. 

Arrangement  of  the  hair. 

7.  Care  of  the  nails. 

Course  in  the  Opera.  One  Leader,  whose  girls  were 
especially  fond  of  Victrola  music,  planned  a  course  in 
opera  for  them.  Using  the  Victor  Company's  "Book 
of  the  Opera,"  she  secured  records  of  a  number  of  well- 
known  operas.  Each  lesson  was  then  centered  upon  one 
opera.  Its  story  was  told,  and  records  played.  The 
finale  of  the  course  occurred  when  the  entire  Club  went 
to  hear  one  of  the  operas  of  which  they  had  learned. 

The  Method  of  Conducting  the  Class 

The  wisest  method  of  conducting  the  work  depends 
upon  the  Club  girls  themselves.  All  teachers  and  Leaders 
wish  to  have  the  girls  take  as  active  a  part  in  the  classes 


THE  QUESTION  OF  CLASSES  183 

as  possible.  Younger  girls,  full  of  life  and  energy,  will 
often  not  attend  a  class  which  is  presented  in  lecture 
form.  On  the  other  hand,  many  girls  are  shy  and 
timid;  they  do  not  wish  to  enter  into  the  class  discus- 
sions because  they  will  then  show  their  lack  of  training 
and  they  are  afraid  they  will  then  be  the  object  of  their 
classmates'  smiles.  A  teacher  can  soon  tell  the  extent 
to  which  the  girls  are  willing  to  take  active  part  in  the 
class  discussions  and  can  plan  her  policy  accordingly. 
If  the  girls  refuse  to  talk,  she  can  start  with  informal 
lectures,  gradually  leading  the  girls  to  express  them- 
selves. If  a  number  of  the  class  are  too  talkative,  she 
can  insist  that  a  fair  opportunity  be  given  to  all,  to  the 
timid  as  well  as  to  the  assertive. 

An  interesting  discussion  of  this  question  was  once 
held  at  the  Industrial  Girls'  Conference,  Altamont,  New 
York  (Y.  W.  C.  A.),  The  girls  themselves  considered 
the  problem  of  the  method  by  which  classes  are  best 
presented.  The  following  reports  and  conclusions  were 
made: 

"Eight  cities  voted  in  favor  of  a  class  that  neces- 
sitates activity.  Buffalo  and  West  Side,  New  York, 
voted  for  the  lecture  form ;  in  these  cities,  they  have  had 
lectures  of  exceptional  value.  Phillip sburg  said  that  the 
lecture  form  is  most  satisfactory  for  mill  girls.  Albany 
wished  a  combination.  Hartford  said  two  Clubs  of 
younger  girls  believe  in  taking  part,  but  that  the  older 
girls  prefer  lectures.  Paterson  thought  that  the  course 
itself  would  determine  the  answer;  unless  the  lecturer 
be  a  wonderful  exception,  it  is  best  to  have  activity. 
The  discussion  of  this  question  brought  out  the  fact 
that  class  discussion  helps  a  Leader  to  discover  how 


184  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

much  the  girls  have  understood  and  what  they  want  to 
know  further.  It  teaches  the  girls  to  talk  and  to  think 
clearly.  Two  things  are  necessary:  information,  given 
by  the  teacher;  and  discussion  or  demonstration  by  the 
students." 

How  Long  Shall  the  Course  Be? 

The  plan  very  generally  followed  by  Girls'  Clubs,  of 
maintaining  a  class  for  a  year  or  for  half  a  year,  has 
its  advantages  in  the  large  amount  of  ground  which 
can  be  covered  in  the  longer  period  of  time  and  in  the 
resulting  thoroughness  with  which  the  subject  can  be 
taught. 

The  giving  of  shorter  courses,  however,  is  coming  to 
be  especially  desirable  in  Girls'  Clubs.  Leaders  have 
found  it  a  big  problem  to  sustain  interest  for  an  entire 
year.  Absence  from  a  number  of  lessons  has  sometimes 
discouraged  the  girls  and  they  have  left  the  Club  rather 
than  make  up  the  lost  work.  In  this  connection,  many 
Leaders  have  successfully  tried  the  plan  of  giving 
courses  of  four,  six,  or  eight  lessons  in  certain  subjects. 
Completing  a  short  course  does  not  seem  so  stupendous 
an  undertaking,  and  absence  for  several  lessons  is  not 
so  discouraging.  To  be  sure,  the  girl  may  have  missed 
several  lessons  in  the  course,  but  it  will  be  completed 
in  a  short  time  and  then  something  new  will  be  taken 
up.  Will  she  not  come  for  the  remaining  lessons,  getting 
from  them  what  she  can,  and  entering  the  new  course 
when  all  the  Club  is  ready?  Such  an  appeal  will  often 
hold  a  girl  in  the  Club  and  in  the  class  work. 

In    a    thorough    education,    the    longer,    progressive 


THE  QUESTION  OF  CLASSES  185 

courses  are  a  necessity.  But  when  the  Leader  must  de- 
cide between  the  girls'  taking  a  short  course  or  none  at 
all,  the  first  alternative  is  undoubtedly  the  better:  A 
small  amount  of  educational  work  is  better  than  none. 
These  shorter  courses  have  been  in  many  instances  the 
means  through  which  ambition  and  a  desire  to  learn  have 
been  aroused;  they  have  constituted  a  first  step  toward 
a  more  thorough  education,  and  as  such  have  been  of 
value.  The  following  have  been  used  as  subjects  for 
short  courses: 

The  Short  Story.  Homemaking. 

Art  Appreciation.  Hygiene. 

Musical  Composers.  Business  Efficiency. 

One  advantage  of  the  short-course  plan  is  that  so- 
called  "popular"  subjects  can  be  used  as  a  basis  for  the 
lessons. 

The  Time  for  Holding  Class  Sessions 

Whatever  the  nature  of  the  course  which  is  intro- 
duced into  a  Club,  it  is  necessary  to  set  a  definite  and 
regular  time  for  the  class  session.  It  is  best  to  hold  a 
class  at  the  time  when  the  girls  can  come  together  with 
least  difficulty.  To  make  the  meeting  time  convenient  is 
to  make  the  first  step  in  attendance  easy.  If  the  lunch- 
hour  is  to  be  used  for  class  work,  the  best  time  is  that 
period  which  the  largest  number  habitually  use  for  their 
lunch  recess;  in  this  way  the  class  work  fits  into  the 
business  schedule.  And  the  greater  the  extent  to  which 
these  activities  can  go  on  without  interfering  with  the 
business  organization,  the  better  the  Department  Heads 


186  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

like  it  and  the  more  enthusiastically  they  will  support  the 
work.  When  classes  are  held  in  the  evening,  the  earlier 
they  meet  the  better.  In  a  store  or  factory,  the  plan  of 
serving  supper  to  class  members  is  a  splendid  aid  to 
attendance;  the  girls  can  then  go  directly  from  their 
work  to  supper,  and  from  supper  to  the  class,  and  more- 
over they  are  saved  the  wear  and  tear  of  a  trip  home 
and  back  again  to  class.  In  many  Y.  W.  C.  A.'s  this 
plan  is  carried  out  by  serving  supper  in  the  place  where 
the  class  meets. 

Making  the  Most  of  the  Amount  of  Time  Available, 

The  Leader  should  select  for  her  Club  those  courses 
which  can  be  given  in  the  amount  of  time  allotted  to 
the  sessions.  Each  lesson  should  be  planned  so  that  the 
pupils  themselves  will  have  a  feeling  of  definite  accom- 
plishment at  its  close.  Handicraft  classes  of  all  kinds 
need  much  more  time  because  the  pupils  must  assemble 
their  materials  before  beginning  to  work  on  them;  much 
more  can  be  accomplished  if  all  the  materials  are  ready 
for  them  to  start  on  as  soon  as  they  come.  The  more 
limited  the  amount  of  time,  the  more  careful  should 
be  the  planning. 

At  one  lunch-hour  Club  the  time  was  short  and  the 
attendance  of  the  members  intermittent,  but  classes  in 
current  events,  sewing  and  cooking  were  successfully 
introduced.  In  the  case  of  evening  classes,  held  after 
many  of  the  pupils  have  done  a  hard  day's  work,  a  one- 
hour  session  is  better  than  a  two-hour,  especially  if  sub- 
jects other  than  handicraft  are  taught.  The  longer  the 
session  lasts  after  the  hour  limit,  the  greater  the  fatigue 


THE  QUESTION  OP  CLASSES  187 

evident  among  the  students,  and  the  harder  it  is  for 
them  to  follow  the  discussion.  The  instructor  is  sure 
to  accomplish  more  if  but  part  of  the  session  is  devoted 
to  class  work,  and  the  instruction  is  given  early  in  the 
evening,  followed  by  "playtime." 

Keeping  up  the  Class  Attendance. 

All  who  have  had  experience  with  classes  in  which  the 
attendance  is  voluntary  know  that  irregularity  is  one  of 
the  greatest  obstacles  to  progress.  Arousing  a  girl's  in- 
terest to  such  an  extent  that  she  will  come  to  class  even 
when  other  attractions  are  offered  her  is,  of  course,  the 
aim  of  every  instructor.  It  is  a  very  powerful  interest 
which  will  dominate  even  when  a  girl's  best  friend  is 
at  her  elbow  on  class  night,  urging  her  to  "come  on  to 
the  Movies!"  If  it  is  possible  to  put  another  girl  at 
her  side,  who  at  such  a  time  will  urge  her  to  attend  class, 
this  personal  influence  will  often  bring  in  the  wayward 
one.  The  Leader  may  forward  this  personal  work  by 
calling  upon  the  absentees  or  writing  notes  to  them. 
The  problem  may  also  be  met  if  there  is  included  in  the 
class  organization  an  officer  or  a  committee  whose  func- 
tion is  to  maintain  attendance.  In  this  way,  the  class 
itself  shares  the  responsibility  with  the  Leader.  One 
class  secretary  each  week  made  a  list  of  the  absentees, 
and  appointed  other  members  of  the  class  to  call  upon 
them  and  try  to  induce  them  to  come  the  next  time.  In 
this  way  each  absentee  had  one  friend  urging  her  to 
come  to  class,  possibly  counteracting  the  friend  who  had 
been  urging  her  to  stay  away. 

Still   another  method  is  to   determine  on   a  certain 


i88  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

minimum  attendance  which  the  class  must  have  at  each 
session  or  the  course  will  be  stopped.  One  Club  set  this 
number  at  ten.  The  instructor  explained  that  it  was  not 
fair  to  the  Club  to  ask  it  to  pay  the  expenses  of  a  class 
which  had  fewer  than  ten  in  it,  for  those  expenses  were 
the  same  for  five  or  for  twenty-five  members.  After  the 
announcement  of  this  rule,  each  falling-off  in  attendance 
set  the  enthusiastic  class  members  actively  at  work  trying 
to  bring  back  their  faltering  sisters ! 

It  has  sometimes  proved  effective  to  charge  a  special 
fee  for  admission  to  the  class.  It  seems  to  be  a  human 
failing  that  what  we  get  for  nothing  has  not  the  same 
attraction  as  that  for  which  we  must  pay!  So,  in  Club 
work;  classes  for  which  the  girls  pay  are  regarded  as  a 
little  more  desirable  than  those  to  which  no  admission 
fee  is  charged. 

Awarding  Certificates 

The  plan  of  awarding  certificates  to  all  who  success- 
fully complete  the  courses  has  been  tried  by  many  Clubs. 
If  the  girls  can  be  induced  to  regard  the  certificate  as 
highly  desirable,  an  objective  is  held  before  each  one 
toward  which  she  can  work  during  the  year.  Great  care 
should  be  exercised  in  making  the  award  of  the  certificate 
mean  a  certain,  definite  attainment.  It  is  in  those  Clubs 
whose  work  has  been  carefully  standardized  that  the 
certificate  has  the  greatest  value  in  the  eyes  of  the 
members. 

The  rule  should  be  that  a  girl  becomes  ineligible  for 
a  certificate  after  she  has  been  absent  more  than  a  de- 
termined number  of  times.  The  American  Red  Cross 


THE  QUESTION  OF  CLASSES  189 

for  the  award  of  its  First-Aid  certificate,  requires  an 
attendance  at  80  per  cent,  of  the  lessons.  In  general, 
whatever  the  number  of  absences  allowed,  it  must  be 
relatively  small  in  comparison  with  the  total  number  of 
class  sessions,  and  excuses  for  absence  should  be  rarely 
given. 

Moreover,  certain  definite  requirements  in  the  mem- 
ber's class  work  must  be  fulfilled  if  she  wishes  a  certi- 
ficate. In  manual  classes,  such  as  millinery  and  dress- 
making, the  members  have  been  required  to  do  a  specified 
amount  of  work  and  to  prove  themselves  able  to  do 
certain  things ;  the  exact  amount  of  work  to  be  required 
depending  largely  upon  the  amount  of  time  allotted  to 
that  course.  But  always  and  in  every  course  the  re- 
quirement should  not  be  low,  not  within  the  easy  reach 
of  any  and  every  class  member.  In  other  than  manual 
training  classes,  the  instructors  have  often  required  an 
examination,  the  reading  of  specified  books,  the  writing 
of  assigned  papers,  or  formal  oral  reports  in  class. 

Establishing  such  definite  and  high  requirements  as 
these  has  resulted  in  making  the  certificate  represent  real 
accomplishment  on  the  part  of  the  girls.  In  most  Clubs 
the  certificate  states  the  definite  work  which  the  student 
had  done  to  win  it.  In  this  way,  each  class  member 
has  a  tangible  regard  for  her  work,  which  she  can 
proudly  exhibit  to  her  family  and  friends.  Provided 
great  care  is  exercised  to  hold  high  the  requirements  for 
winning  a  certificate,  the  plan  is  an  excellent  stimulus 
to  educational  endeavor. 


GIRLS'  CLUBS 


The  Club  Exhibit 

Closing  the  year's  class  work  with  an  exhibit  has  been 
found  an  excellent  plan.  The  members  of  the  Club 
all  enjoy  showing  their  friends  what  they  have  been  able 
to  accomplish.  An  annual  exhibit  which  is  in  a  sense 
a  "Commencement"  ends  the  year  with  a  flourish.  It 
is  a  time  when  the  Club  may  point  with  pride  to  what 
it  has  done  and  say,  "Just  wait  till  next  year." 

The  good  effect  upon  Club  life  of  holding  an  exhibit 
is  very  apparent  to  all  who  have  tried  the  plan.  If  the 
exhibit  is  to  be  worth  while,  preparation  must  be  made 
ahead  and  the  class  work  must  be  finished  in  time.  When 
the  date  has  been  set,  the  Millinery  girls  know  that  they 
must  finish  their  hats;  the  Art  Embroidery  girls  their 
centerpieces;  the  dancers,  their  dances;  the  play  cast 
must  know  their  lines  and  so  on.  The  very  thought  of 
holding  an  exhibit  to  which  outsiders  will  come  often 
spurs  the  girls  to  special  endeavor  for  weeks  before  the 
important  day.  The  concentration  necessary  in  preparing 
for  a  program  constitutes  valuable  discipline. 

One  great  advantage  of  the  public  exhibit  is  that  it 
seems  to  bring  out  the  best  of  which  the  members  are 
capable.  "My  girls  always  do  better  in  the  swimming 
exhibitions  than  at  any  other  time,"  a  Camp  Leader 
once  remarked.  Those  who  train  girls  for  exhibits 
are  often  surprised  at  the  excellence  of  their  perform- 
ance on  the  final  evening.  It  may  be  the  thrill  of  hav- 
ing an  audience,  but  whatever  it  is,  they  seem  to  rise 
to  unexpected  heights.  And  when  they  have  once 
made  such  an  accomplishment,  they  are  encouraged  to 
go  on  and  try  to  do  still  better.  The  saying,  "A  pleased 


THE  QUESTION  OF  CLASSES  191 

customer  is  the  best  advertisement"  applies  in  every 
phase  of  Club  work.  A  "pleased"  Club  girl  is  the  best 
assurance  of  continued  success.  And  nothing  pleases 
the  average  girl  more  than  to  appear  in  a  successful 
exhibit  which  has  interested  her  friends  and  has  proved 
that  she  belongs  to  a  live  organization. 

There  are  four  general  ways  in  which  class  work  can 
be  effectively  shown:  through  display  of  the  articles 
made;  through  posters  telling  of  the  activities;  through 
actual  class  demonstration ;  and  through  special  dramatic 
numbers  which  center  around  the  idea  of  the  classes. 

A  Club  in  Pennsylvania  successfully  carried  out  a 
combination  of  all  four  of  these  ideas  on  its  Exhibit 
evening.  As  the  invited  guests  entered  the  hall,  they 
walked  past  a  display  of  hats,  dresses,  embroidery  work, 
and  crocheted  and  knitted  articles.  As  many  as  possible 
of  these  articles  had  been  brought  in  by  the  Club  mem- 
bers and  had  been  artistically  displayed  on  the  tables  and 
in  cases.  Attractive  posters  told  what  each  display  was : 

"Perhaps  you  think  such  hats  as  these, 
Were  made  in  France  across  the  seas? 
Not  so ! — We  made  and  trimmed  them,  too — 
They  show  you  what  our  girls  can  do!" 

The  English  class  exhibit  consisted  of  a  number  of 
books  piled  on  a  table,  under  the  sign:  "These  books 
have  been  read  and  discussed  by  our  English  class  during 
the  year." 

Around  the  hall,  small  enclosures  had  been  roped  off 
with  ribbon,  and  within,  class  members  demonstrated 
their  work.  In  the  manicuring  booth,  the  instructor 
and  the  class  girls  were  busy  manicuring.  In  the 


iQ2  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

stenography  booth,  several  class  members  were  working 
at  the  typewriting  machines,  while  others  were  taking 
dictation.  These  "active"  exhibits  attracted  unusual 
attention  and  were  a  valuable  means  of  showing  class 
work,  in  the  case  of  courses  not  especially  adapted  to  a 
display  exhibit  only. 

The  program  at  this  Club's  exhibit  was  planned  to 
show  the  work  of  the  various  classes.  The  Spanish 
Class  gave  a  short  play  in  Spanish,  ending  with  Spanish 
songs.  The  Elocution  Class  gave  a  play.  The  Dancing 
Class  members  gave  several  fancy  dances.  And  the 
finale  centered  in  a  pretty,  young  girl  who,  in  the  open- 
ing scene,  was  sad  and  lonely.  Her  mother,  in  panto- 
mime, became  exceedingly  angry  because  her  daughter 
did  not  study  and  learn.  Then  a  Club  girl  entered  and 
asked  the  daughter  to  join  the  Club.  This  the  girl  did, 
and  forthwith  each  class  came  to  her,  with  a  gift.  The 
Dressmaking  Class  brought  her  a  dress,  which  she  put 
on.  The  Millinery  Class  gave  her  a  hat.  The  Manicur- 
ing Class  helped  her  with  her  appearance.  The  Art 
Embroidery  Class  gave  her  a  bag;  the  Knitting  Class, 
a  sweater.  By  this  time  she  had  become  a  smiling  and 
well-dressed  young  girl.  Then  the  English  and  French 
Classes  presented  her  with  books,  and  the  Current  Events 
Class  handed  her  some  current  periodicals.  The  whole 
pantomime  was  explained  in  verse,  recited  by  a  Club 
member  standing  over  at  one  side  of  the  stage.  At  the 
close  of  the  pantomime,  all  the  class  representatives — 
over  one  hundred  in  number — joined  in  singing  the  Club 
songs. 

One  club  of  business  girls  closed  its  exhibit  in  the 
spring  of  1918  by  the  following  invitation  to  its  Store 


THE  QUESTION  OF  CLASSES  193 

friends  in  the  audience,  using  the  tune  so  popular  then, 
"What  Are  You  Going  to  Do  to  Help  the  Boys?" 

What  do  you  people  think  of  our  Exhibit? 
Wouldn't  you  like  to  join  our  happy  band? 

If  you  want  to  have  some  fun, 

We  provide  it  by  the  ton, 

And  all  we  ask  is  fifty  cents  and  a  joyfully  helping  hand. 
In  all  the  pleasant  things  you  see  about  you, 

There's  none  that  means  hard  working  or  fatigue ; 
We  insist  we  cannot  get  along  without  you — 

So  when  are  you  going  to  join  the  Women's  League? 

Where  a  program  is  given  in  addition  to  the  exhibits 
of  handicraft,  as  many  of  the  Club  members  as  possible 
should  take  part  in  it.  Nothing  will  bring  friends  to 
an  exhibit  more  quickly  than  the  prospect  of  "seeing 
Nelly  in  it."  The  greater  the  number  of  Club  members 
included  in  a  program,  the  more  wide-spread  will  be  the 
interest  and  the  larger  the  audience.  And  when  the 
audience  is  large  and  the  interest  in  the  program  great, 
the  girls  feel  special  pride  in  their  Club.  In  the  days 
immediately  following  the  exhibit,  it  pleases  them  to 
hear  many  of  their  acquaintances  say,  "I  hear  your  Club 
gave  a  fine  entertainment  the  other  night."  The  approval 
of  friends  is  sweet  to  all.  And  in  no  better  way  can 
a  Club  rightly  earn  this  approval  than  by  means  of  a 
splendid  exhibit  of  their  work. 

Introduce  the  Exhibit  Idea  Often 

The  Exhibit  idea  need  not  be  confined  to  the  close  of 
the  Club  year.  There  are  many  times  throughout  the 
year  when  it  can  be  effectively  used.  Informal  exhibits 
are  an  excellent  means  of  calling  constant  attention  to 


194  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

what  the  Club  has  been  doing.  One  Leader  of  years' 
experience  has  said  that  she  never  loses  an  opportunity 
to  introduce  one  or  more  exhibit  features  into  every 
gathering  of  her  Club  to  which  guests  are  invited.  If 
the  occasion  is  a  dance,  she  prepares  a  few  lantern  slides 
which  tell  about  the  Club  work,  and  these  she  throws 
upon  the  screen  in  the  course  of  the  evening's  fun.  Or, 
perhaps,  she  has  some  Club  member  sing  a  bright,  catchy 
song  which  tells  of  the  delights  of  Club  life.  Or,  over 
in  a  corner  of  the  Club  room,  she  places  a  table,  upon 
which  are  shown  a  number  of  pretty  hats.  "These  hats 
are  being  made  in  our  Millinery  Class — now!"  To 
this  Club  Leader,  even  the  social  gatherings  present  an 
opportunity  to  extend  a  knowledge  of  what  her  Club 
is  doing.  She  does  not  allow  these  small  exhibits  to  be- 
come so  extensive  as  to  exclude  part  of  the  Club's  good 
times  at  a  party — this  would  defeat  her  object.  But  she 
does  constantly  advertise  the  Club's  many  activities  by 
effective  use  of  the  exhibit  idea. 

Try  Classes  as  an  Experiment 

The  Leader  who  has  never  tried  the  plan  of  having 
educational  work  in  her  Club  would  do  well  to  try  it. 
The  start  may  not  be  extensive  or  pretentious,  but 
through  such  an  attempt  greater  things  may  grow:  if 
even  one  girl  is  aroused  to  enter  upon  a  steady  effort  to- 
ward self -development,  the  work  can  be  called  worth 
while. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE    CLUB'S    RELATION    TO    COMMUNITY 
AND    COUNTRY 

THE  most  live  and  worth-while  Girls'  Clubs  to-day  have 
a  vision  of  service  through  some  constructive  work  in 
addition  to  those  Club  activities  in  which  they  are  en- 
gaging for  their  own  especial  benefit  and  enjoyment. 
Clubs  of  even  the  youngest  girls  have  come  to  share  in 
a  kind  of  social  service  which  gives  them  their  first 
glimpse  into  what  true  citizenship  really  means.  Such 
work  leads  them  to  consider  the  welfare  and  happiness 
of  others.  Many  Leaders  have  already  recognized  the 
great  opportunity — nay,  the  duty — for  service  which  lies 
before  their  Clubs,  and  have  given  such  activities  a 
prominent  place  in  the  work  which  their  members  do 
from  week  to  week.  Perhaps,  for  example,  the  neigh- 
borhood from  which  the  Club  is  recruited  is  dirty  and 
carelessly  kept;  the  members  then  join  in  the  "clean- 
up" crusade  and  are  active  in  interesting  others. 
The  "Better  Babies"  committee  decides  to  hold  a  Baby 
Week;  the  Club  can  assist  in  distributing  its  literature 
and  in  arousing  a  general  interest.  The  State  organizes 
an  anti-tuberculosis  movement;  the  Leader  arranges  for 
a  speaker  on  the  subject  in  a  Club  meeting.  Whatever 
subject  presents  itself,  the  girls  themselves  are  given 

.195 


iQ6  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

vital  information  on  it  and  then  assume  their  share  in 
the  campaign  for  spreading  this  information.  Every 
time  a  girl  is  brought  into  direct  contact  with  movements 
of  this  kind,  a  forward  step  is  taken  in  her  education: 
not  only  is  her  sense  of  responsibility  awakened,  but  she 
is  also  shown  channels  through  which  she  can  work 
wisely  and  in  which  her  efforts  will  be  most  effective. 
The  following  report,  written  by  a  member  of  a  Pitts- 
field,  Mass.,  Working  Girls'  Club  is  typical  of  the  re- 
sponse which  many  girls  have  given  to  the  opportunities 
in  which  they  can  be  of  service : 

"The  value  of  a  Club  to  its  community  assumes  very 
great  proportions  when  we  realize  that  the  word  'com- 
munity' does  not  mean  merely  ward  or  city,  but  family, 
village,  city,  State,  nation — society  at  large.  In  city  life, 
the  right  sort  of  Club  is  a  real  help.  In  our  town,  for 
instance,  we  have  tried  for  years  to  close  the  stores  on 
Tuesday  evenings.  Nearly  twelve  years  ago,  at  the  re- 
quest of  the  Merchants'  Association,  we  discussed  the 
question  and  the  Club  cast  its  vote  in  favor  of  such 
closing  and  has  talked  of  it  ever  since.  Finally  the 
matter  has  been  decided,  and  the  majority  of  stores  are 
open  on  Saturday  evenings  only." 

The  Leader  who  wishes  to  add  such  social  service 
work  to  her  Club's  activities  is  not  lacking  in  oppor- 
tunities to  do  so.  Wherever  the  Club,  and  whatever  its 
nature,  there  are  openings  at  every  turn  in  which  the 
efforts  of  its  members  will  be  welcomed.  The  problem 
becomes,  then,  one  of  choice,  and  it  is  for  the  Leader 
to  decide  which  forms  of  these  activities  will  be  best 
for  her  girls.  In  many  Clubs,  the  social  service  programs 
are  so  arranged  that  the  girls  give  financial  support  to 


CLUB'S  RELATION  TO  COMMUNITY       197 

the  work  of  some  other  organization,  and,  in  addition, 
personally  engage  in  work  which  they  themselves  can 
do  through  the  week. 

The  Club  as  a  "Good  Neighbor" 

One  of  the  most  successful  means  of  arousing  the 
girls'  interest  in  service  work  is  to  suggest  that  they  be 
of  real  help  to  their  fellow-members,  to  their  families, 
to  the  people  in  their  neighborhood,  to  other  Clubs  in 
the  same  Settlement  or  church.  These  are  the  people 
whom  they  know.  They  can  see  the  needs  and  can 
themselves  observe  the  results  of  their  efforts.  Their 
opportunities  are  definite  and  concrete.  Many  girls  who 
would  have  no  interest  in  a  Children's  Aid  Society  will 
become  very  enthusiastic  in  working  for  the  Day 
Nursery  around  the  corner.  Once  a  real  interest  has 
been  aroused  in  this  particular  work  for  little  children, 
the  next  step — that  is,  interesting  the  Club  girls  in  the 
wider  movements  for  Child  Welfare — can  often  be  taken 
naturally. 

"You  have  been  making  a  baby  outfit  for  Mrs.  Smith," 
said  a  Club  Leader  in  New  York  City  one  evening, 
"Now  I  want  to  tell  you  about  the  woman  in  Washing- 
ton who  is  looking  after  all  the  babies  in  the  United 
States"  She  then  explained  the  work  of  the  Children's 
Bureau  in  Washington.  The  girls'  interest  was  great, 
and  the  Leader  was  easily  able  to  enlist  their  efforts  in 
a  Baby  Week  campaign.  So  it  is  that  the  little  things 
which  are  at  every  Club's  door,  waiting  to  be  done,  are 
often  the  very  form  of  service  in  which  the  girls  will 
be  immediately  interested.  Nor  should  these  be  an  end 


200  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

tures;  another,  for  games;  at  another  time,  they  had 
dancing  to  Victrola  music;  during  two  noons  informal 
entertainments  held  sway.  What  had  formerly  been  an 
empty,  uninteresting  time  was  changed  to  a  period  of 
fun  for  the  whole  factory.  And,  incidentally,  many  new 
girls  became  interested  in  the  Club.  Some  working  girls 
in  New  York  City,  whose  quarters  were  attractive  and 
comfortable,  formed  the  hospitable  custom  of  lending 
their  Club  rooms  to  other  organizations  for  special 
parties.  A  Girls'  Friendly  Society  in  which  one  of  the 
Club  members  was  interested  was  the  first  to  come.  A 
small  committee  of  the  working  girls'  Club  was  present 
to  extend  the  good  wishes  for  the  organization  to  the 
visitors,  but,  aside  from  the  presence  of  these,  the  rooms 
temporarily  belonged  to  the  Girls'  Friendly.  Since  that 
time,  the  idea  has  grown  and  many  less  fortunately 
situated  Clubs  have  used  the  pleasant  rooms  for  special 
occasions. 

A  friendly  hand  extended  by  one  flourishing  Club  to 
another  just  organized  is  often  just  what  the  beginners 
need.  Settlement  workers,  recognizing  the  helpfulness 
of  such  inter-Club  cooperation  and  neighborliness  have 
long  since  introduced  the  idea  of  a  Federation  or  general 
organization  for  all  the  Girls'  Clubs  in  each  Settlement 
House.  The  Young  Women's  Christian  Association  has 
carried  out  this  idea  in  several  ways.  One  example 
of  such  organization  is  in  its  Federations  of  Industrial 
Clubs;  the  Clubs  thus  bound  together  meet  together  to 
pass  on  good  ideas  and  to  help  each  other  in  solving 
their  problems.  In  the  College  Settlement,  New  York 
City,  the  Girls'  Association  is  comprised  of  the  girls 
who  are  members  in  good  and  regular  standing  of  the 


200  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

tures;  another,  for  games;  at  another  time,  they  had 
dancing  to  Victrola  music;  during  two  noons  informal 
entertainments  held  sway.  What  had  formerly  been  an 
empty,  uninteresting  time  was  changed  to  a  period  of 
fun  for  the  whole  factory.  And,  incidentally,  many  new 
girls  became  interested  in  the  Club.  Some  working  girls 
in  New  York  City,  whose  quarters  were  attractive  and 
comfortable,  formed  the  hospitable  custom  of  lending 
their  Club  rooms  to  other  organizations  for  special 
parties.  A  Girls'  Friendly  Society  in  which  one  of  the 
Club  members  was  interested  was  the  first  to  come.  A 
small  committee  of  the  working  girls'  Club  was  present 
to  extend  the  good  wishes  for  the  organization  to  the 
visitors,  but,  aside  from  the  presence  of  these,  the  rooms 
temporarily  belonged  to  the  Girls'  Friendly.  Since  that 
time,  the  idea  has  grown  and  many  less  fortunately 
situated  Clubs  have  used  the  pleasant  rooms  for  special 
occasions. 

A  friendly  hand  extended  by  one  flourishing  Club  to 
another  just  organized  is  often  just  what  the  beginners 
need.  Settlement  workers,  recognizing  the  helpfulness 
of  such  inter-Club  cooperation  and  neighborliness  have 
long  since  introduced  the  idea  of  a  Federation  or  general 
organization  for  all  the  Girls'  Clubs  in  each  Settlement 
House.  The  Young  Women's  Christian  Association  ha3 
carried  out  this  idea  in  several  ways.  One  example 
of  such  organization  is  in  its  Federations  of  Industrial 
Clubs;  the  Clubs  thus  bound  together  meet  together  to 
pass  on  good  ideas  and  to  help  each  other  in  solving 
their  problems.  In  the  College  Settlement,  New  York 
City,  the  Girls'  Association  is  comprised  of  the  girls 
who  are  members  in  good  and  regular  standing  of  the 


CLUB'S  RELATION  TO  COMMUNITY      201 

Settlement  Clubs.  A  meeting  is  held  once  a  month.  The 
plans  for  the  meeting  are  in  the  hands  of  a  joint  com- 
mittee made  up  of  representatives  from  the  different 
Clubs.  "These  general  gatherings,"  says  a  Settlement 
report,  "helped  to  break  up  the  intense  individualism 
of  the  Clubs."  The  Association  as  a  whole  has  at  times 
taken  up  work  in  which  they  have  all  been  interested. 
When  the  girls  all  worked  together  upon  the  Anni- 
versary Fund  entertainment  of  the  Settlement,  the  results 
of  their  cooperation  were  evident.  "Even  on  that  occa- 
sion, when  serious  thoughts  were  banished,  one  was  con- 
scious of  the  fine  spirit  behind  the  whole  effort  which 
made  success  possible.  It  was  the  girls'  contribution 
to  a  common  cause — the  Settlement — a  recognition  of 
their  sense  of  obligation  to  help  in  its  work." 

In  some  cities  such  inter-Club  organization  is  city- 
wide.  Each  delegate  to  the  general  board  comes  to  feel 
her  obligation  for  carrying  to  the  other  Clubs  ideas  which 
her  own  Club  has  found  helpful  and  useful.  Where 
no  general  organization  exists,  it  is  often  possible  to 
start  one.  If  made  a  vital  factor  in  the  Club  life,  these 
general  meetings  become  a  clearing-house  for  ideas,  and 
each  Club  benefits :  in  its  giving  and  in  its  receiving. 

What  Girls  Can  Do  for  Girls 

The  interest  of  any  Girls'  Club  is  quite  naturally 
aroused  in  the  possibilities  of  what  it  can  do  for  girls 
in  general.  The  members  quickly  grasp  the  significance 
of  such  effort  because  they  are  girls  themselves  and  so 
realize  the  purpose  of  the  work  they  are  undertaking. 
It  is  because  of  this  natural  appeal  that  the  Girls'  Pro- 
tective League,  organized  by  Miss  Maude  Miner,  has 


202  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

been  welcomed  by  many  Clubs.  "Girls,  help  to  make  the 
world  safe  for  girls!"  is  the  slogan  of  the  society,  and 
they  have  pointed  out  many  practical  ways  in  which  this 
aim  is  to  be  accomplished.  The  League  has  been  de- 
nned as  "an  organization  of  girls  banded  together  for 
the  purpose  of  securing  protection  for  all  girls."  Its 
objects  are  "to  protect  girls  from  moral  danger;  to 
promote  moral  education;  to  encourage  right  thinking 
and  clean  conversation;  to  improve  conditions  of  work 
for  girls."  In  order  to  accomplish  these  aims,  it  is 
necessary  first  to  educate  the  girls,  impressing  upon  them 
the  value  of  a  high  code  of  conduct,  the  ways  in  which 
a  girl  may  stand  for  these  high  standards  every  day, 
and  the  specific  laws  which  relate  to  girls  in  their  work. 
This  moral  education  has  been  promoted  in  the  League 
by  lectures,  talks,  and  discussions.  The  following  have 
been  a  number  of  the  subjects  used  in  this  way: 

The  Girl  and  Her  Rights. 

Standards  of  Dress. 

Protecting  the  Children. 

Abolishing  Child  Labor. 

Ways  of  Protecting  Girls. 

The  Dance  Hall  Problem. 

Protection  of  Immigrants. 

Our  Responsibilities  at  Home. 

Business  Opportunities  for  Women. 

The  Minimum  Wage. 

Standards  of  Work. 

Promoting  Efficiency  in  Work. 

Using  our  Leisure. 

Making  Vacations  Worth  While. 

Faith  in  the  Possibilities  of  Life. 


CLUB'S  RELATION  TO  COMMUNITY       203 

Informal  talks  upon  subjects  such  as  these  give  to 
girls,  especially  those  who  have  gone  out  to  earn  their 
own  living,  a  realization  of  the  importance  of  their  own 
daily  conduct  and  the  help  which  they  can  be  to  those 
with  whom  they  come  into  contact.  What  girls  them- 
selves have  done  and  can  do  is  suggested  in  the  League's 
report  which  tells  of  their  work. 

"Girls  themselves  do  the  real  work  of  the  League  by 
reporting  illegal,  unsanitary,  or  immoral  conditions  in 
places  where  they  live  and  work  and  play;  by  talking 
to  girls  who  are  in  danger  or  in  need  of  protection ;  and 
by  seeking  in  every  possible  way  to  carry  out  the  objects 
of  the  League.  Members  are  urged  to  watch  for  viola- 
tion of  labor  laws,  dance-hall  laws  and  motion-picture 
ordinances.  Girls  are  not  sent  out  as  detectives  to  dis- 
cover violations  of  law,  but  are  instructed  in  the  laws 
which  protect  them,  and  taught  to  keep  their  eyes  open 
when  violations  of  the  law  take  place. 

"Girls  who  realize  that  147  of  their  factory  sisters 
lost  their  lives  in  the  Triangle  Shirtwaist  Fire  in  New 
York  City  because  exits  to  fire  escapes  were  locked,  are 
eager  to  see  that  there  is  no  such  condition  in  their  places 
of  work. 

"When  members  know  that  in  New  York  State  it 
is  illegal  for  a  girl  from  14  to  16  years  of  age  to  work 
after  5  o'clock  at  night  in  a  factory,  and  for  any  girl 
to  work  in  a  store  between  n  P.  M.  and  7  A.  M.  (except 
at  Christmas  and  stock-taking  time),  they  are  interested 
in  reporting  violations  of  these  laws. 

"Girls  report  violations  of  moving-picture  ordinances, 
including  unlighted  and  badly  ventilated  halls,  over- 
crowded aisles,  and  bad  conditions  of  toilets;  they  tell 


204  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

of  films  which  they  consider  to  have  a  pernicious  in- 
fluence, and  of  bad  conditions  in  amusement  parks  and 
on  pleasure  boats. 

"Reports  from  League  members  have  included  the 
following : 

"Advertisements  in  the  daily  papers  which  attract 
girls  to  dangerous  places  under  the  guise  of 
giving  work  or  training  for  work. 

"Employment  agencies  which  send  girls  to  danger- 
ous places  of  work. 

"Employers  and  men  in  stores  and  other  places  of 
work  who  make  immoral  proposals  to  girls. 

"Conditions  in  some  streets  of  the  city  where  girls 
are  constantly  accosted  by  men. 

"Girls  loitering  around  recruiting  stations,  navy 
yards,  and  tunnels  and  bridges  guarded  by 
soldiers. 

"Girls  who  have  run  away  from  their  homes  to 
live  in  furnished  rooms  or  who  are  on  the 
point  of  running  away. 

"Girls  who  have  immoral  or  very  bad  homes. 

"Girls  who  remain  away  from  home  at  night  and 
associate  with  dangerous  companions. 

"Reports  are  made  by  League  members  on  slips  pro- 
vided by  League  Headquarters,  and  are  given  to  the 
League  Leader.  Through  the  Protective  Bureau  of  the 
League,  investigations  are  made  or  the  complaints  for- 
warded to  the  proper  department  such  as  the  Police 
Department,  the  Labor  Department,  or  the  License 
Bureau.  A  Protective  Officer  visits  and  helps  the  girls 
who  are  reported  as  in  danger." 


CLUB'S  RELATION  TO  COMMUNITY       205 

Not  every  Club  Leader  feels  that  it  is  advisable  to 
introduce  into  her  Club  such  activities  as  these.  Much 
depends  upon  the  age  and  the  type  of  girls.  Leaders 
of  wage-earning  girls  who  every  day  go  out  from  their 
homes  into  the  business  world  will  find  many  concrete 
suggestions  for  their  Social  Service  work  in  the  plans 
of  the  Girls'  Protective  League. 

Many  Girls'  Clubs  are  trying  to  reach  the  lonely  girls 
in  our  large  cities,  giving  them  the  welcome  which  reveals 
the  fact  that  there  are  friends  waiting  for  them.  The 
Girls'  Friendly  Society  is  carrying  out  a  plan  by  which 
a  member  who  moves  from  one  city  to  another  is  given 
an  introduction  to  the  Girls'  Friendly  Branch  in  her 
new  home.  The  Pennsylvania  Sabbath-School  Associa- 
tion, which  indues  in  its  work  the  organizing  of  Sunday- 
School  classes  into  Clubs,  has  inaugurated  this  same 
plan  in  its  "Meet-My-Friend  Movement."  In  this  way, 
any  girl  who  is  anxious  to  meet  others  has  the  way 
opened  for  her  by  the  work  of  the  organization  with 
whom  she  has  been  associated.  A  Girls'  Club  in  an 
Albany  (New  York)  church,  has  given  Sunday  after- 
noon teas  for  the  young  students  of  the  city.  These 
gatherings  of  young  men  and  women  have  been  especially 
enjoyed  by  those  who  are  "rooming"  and  away  from 
home  privileges. 

The  value  of  such  active  work  on  the  part  of  a  Girls' 
Club  in  helping  to  solve  the  problem  of  our  social  evil 
cannot  be  doubted.  Girls  can  render  to  other  girls  a 
service  which  no  other  group  can  accomplish 


206  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

The  City  Club's  Relation  to  Its  Community 

Know  Your  City.  Real  help  can  be  given  by  a  Girls' 
Club  to  its  city  or  community  when  its  members  have 
an  intelligent  grasp  of  the  machinery  of  the  City's 
government  and  of  the  functions  of  the  various  depart- 
ments and  organizations.  Such  knowledge  gives  them 
an  understanding  of  local  events  and  an  appreciation 
of  the  value  of  their  own  efforts.  A  group-study  of 
Current  Events,  or  a  series  of  special  talks  by  city 
officials  and  others,  gives  to  the  girls  just  such  necessary 
training  in  citizenship.  Knowledge  first — then  action: 
this  is  the  motto  of  many  Girls'  Clubs  in  their  social 
service  work.  The  following  outline  for  training  in 
citizenship  has  been  drawn  up  by  the  Young  Women's 
Christian  Association  in  its  pamphlet  called  "Federation 
of  Industrial  Clubs."  It  is  suggestive  not  only  of  a 
scheme  for  a  course,  but  also  of  subjects  for  talks  to 
be  given  by  those  citizens  who  have  direct  knowledge 
about  the  city. 

Citizenship 

1.  The  Modern  City. 

Steps  by  which  it  came  into  existence. 

Chief  advantages  of  city  life.  Increase  in  city  popu- 
lation since  the  last  census. 

Locations  of  well-known  American  cities.  Reason  for 
such  locations. 

2.  Location  of  Our  Own  City. 

Its  natural  resources.  Leading  characteristics  as  a 
city.  Its  contribution  to  the  State  and  the  nation. 


CLUB'S  RELATION  TO  COMMUNITY       207 

3.  The  People  of  Our  City. 

Size  of  the  city  in  comparison  with  others  of  State 

and  nation. 
Different  nationalities  represented  here.    What  brought 

them  here.    What  each  contributes  to  the  city  life. 
Map  of  the  city,  with  location  of  different  races  and 

industrial  groups. 

4.  How  Our  City  is  Governed. 

City  charter.  Different  boards  and  officers.  How 
selected.  To  whom  responsible.  Names  and  char- 
acter of  present  officials.  Effect  of  public  opinion 
on  government  and  on  the  action  of  officials. 
Influence  of  women  on  the  government  of  our  city. 

5.  What  the  City  Owes  to  Us. 

Safety:  Police  and  fire  protection. 

Comfort :  Building  regulations.  Street  paving.  Clean- 
ing. Lighting. 

Health:  Inspection  of  food.  Pure  water  supply. 
Sewage  system,  etc. 

6.  What  We  Owe  the  City. 

Working  out  the  beginnings  of  a  code  of  good  citizen- 
ship based  on  the  preceding  studies,  to  be  modified 
and  completed  as  the  course  goes  on. 

7.  The  City  and  Recreation. 

Outdoor:    Playgrounds,    parks,    boulevards,    boating 

facilities,  etc. 
Indoor:  Commercial  and  non-commercial  amusements. 

Moving  picture  shows — regulations  for  ventilation, 

fire  protection,  character  of  films. 
How  ought  the  recreation  of  our  city  to  be  improved? 

What  can  girls  do  about  it? 

8.  The  Industrial  Opportunities  of  our  City. 

Leading  occupations  of  the  people.  Occupations  and 
industries  open  to  women  and  girls.  Number 
employed  in  proportion  to  population. 


208  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

Map  showing  location  of  factories  and  establishments. 
Laws  governing  the  employment  of  women  and  chil- 
dren.   Aids  and  hindrances  to  their  enforcement 

9.  Cultural  and  Religious  Opportunities  in  Our  City. 
Schools,  libraries,  museums,  etc. 

Churches  and  church  life.     Strong  and  weak  points. 
Our  responsibility. 

In  the  Christodora  Settlement  House,  New  York  City, 
this  training  in  citizenship  is  given  through  the  very 
organization  of  the  Club's  government.  The  charter  of 
the  Club  is,  wherever  possible,  identical  with  that  of  the 
city.  A  Club  Council  has  developed,  modeled  along  the 
lines  of  the  New  York  City  government.  Each  Club 
represents  a  ward  and  sends  two  aldermen  to  the  monthly 
meeting  of  the  Board.  In  this  way,  the  Club  members 
are  familiarized  with  the  details  of  the  city  government. 
An  imitation  "National  Political  Convention"  was  or- 
ganized at  the  time  of  our  real  conventions;  each  Club 
represented  a  State  and  sent  its  delegates.  Three  hun- 
dred Club  members  (boys  and  girls)  participated,  and 
a  Settlement  worker  reported  that  "the  fervid  oratory  of 
the  occasion  rose  almost  to  the  heights  of  the  regular 
conventions !" 

The  following  talks  have  been  given  in  the  Larkin 
Company's  Girls'  Club  of  Buffalo,  New  York,  in  con- 
nection with  their  "Know  Your  City"  work : 

Buffalo  Commission  Government.     City  Depart- 
ments explained. 

Health  Department.     Food  inspection. 
Department  of  Public  Works. 
Department  of  Education.    School  System. 


CLUB'S  RELATION  TO  COMMUNITY       209 

Department  of  Parks,  Policewomen,  City  Courts, 

Children's  Courts  and  Probation  Work. 
Buffalo  Public  Library. 
The  South  Park  Conservatory. 

Civic  Exhibits 

Exhibits  held  in  the  Club  rooms  are  a  splendid  means 
of  giving  necessary  facts  to  the  girls.  Many  local  and 
national  organizations  have  exhibits  which  they  gladly 
lend,  free  of  charge,  to  an  interested  Club.  If  a  Leader 
wishes  to  have  such  an  exhibit,  inquiry  at  the  offices 
of  the  organization  will  give  her  the  necessary  informa- 
tion as  to  where  and  how  she  may  obtain  it. 

In  Trenton,  New  Jersey,  a  Girls'  Club  arranged  for 
such  an  exhibit  by  their  own  ingenuity.  Pictures  of 
good  and  bad  spots  of  the  city  were  shown;  charts  giv- 
ing the  danger  of  drinking  impure  milk  and  of  allowing 
flies  to  live  in  a  city;  charts  showing  the  necessity  of 
having  food  protected  from  the  dust.  This  exhibit  also 
showed  samples  of  the  city  drinking-water  before  and 
after  going  through  the  process  of  filtration  used  in  the 
city.  A  counter  containing  a  glass  case  was  placed  in 
the  Club  room.  Inside  it  was  food  protected  from  flies 
and  dust;  on  its  top  were  pies  and  biscuit — dusty  and 
covered  with  flies.  A  member  of  the  City  Hall  Depart- 
ment of  Weights  and  Measures  demonstrated  true  and 
"fake"  weights  and  measures,  giving  in  his  talk  practical 
suggestions  about  marketing.  Civic  pride  in  the  indus- 
tries of  Trenton  was  aroused  by  showing  samples  of  the 
many  different  articles  manufactured  in  the  factories 
there. 


210  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

Even  among  the  youngest  girls,  talks  can  be  given  on 
civic  subjects  such  as  these,  to  be  followed  by  a  certain 
definite  course  of  conduct  on  the  part  of  the  Club  mem- 
bers. In  one  New  York  Settlement,  the  Club  members 
kept  note-books  in  which  they  reported  their  observa- 
tions on  the  condition  of  the  streets,  tenement-house 
sanitation,  and  fire  protection,  and  their  own  activities 
in  regard  to  what  they  had  seen.  The  following  reports 
are  interesting  and  significant.  "Picked  up  a  banana 
peel  which  was  on  the  sidewalk  and  put  it  into  a  barrel." 
"Told  a  woman  to  take  off  the  boxes  which  she  had 
on  her  fire-escape.  She  obeyed."  "Tried  to  put  out  a 
bonfire,  but  was  stopped  by  a  punch.  I  looked  for  a 
policeman,  but  it  was  in  vain." 

Such  relating  of  civic  betterment  work  to  the  lives  of 
the  girls  is  of  greatest  importance.  In  this  way  the 
members  come  to  realize  that  they  can  be  of  constant, 
every-day  help.  In  accordance  with  this  idea,  girls  have 
cooperated  with  the  Street-Cleaning  Department  in  keep- 
ing the  streets  clean,  in  "Clean-up  Week,"  and  in  beauti- 
fying back  yards.  They  have  cooperated  with  the 
Housewives'  League  in  trying  to  enforce  the  health  laws 
in  regard  to  the  protection  of  food  from  dust,  dirt,  and 
flies,  and  by  signing  petitions  to  Boards  of  Health  asking 
that  no  milk  be  sold  in  the  city  unless  it  has  been 
pasteurized  or  unless  the  cows  giving  the  milk  have  passed 
the  test  for  tuberculosis. 

Girls'  Clubs  have  helped  at  Christmas  time  in  raising 
funds  for  a  Community  Christmas  tree  and  in  assisting 
in  the  program  given  about  it.  A  Girls'  Club  in  Indiana 
placed  flower  boxes  in  the  "policeman  dummies"  in  town. 
Another  Club  in  Texas  raised  funds  for  extra  park 


CLUB'S  RELATION  TO  COMMUNITY       211 

benches,  to  be  used  by  the  soldiers  coming  into  the  city. 
A  Club  in  Illinois  presented  the  town  with  a  beautiful 
American  flag  for  the  playground.  Work  of  this  kind 
gives  the  girls  a  definite  part  in  the  life  of  their  city  and 
so  helps  not  only  the  city  but  also  the  Club  members 
themselves. 

The  Country  Club's  Relation  to  Its  Community 

Girls  in  the  country  have  found  a  splendid  means  for 
service  to  their  community  through  the  Agricultural, 
Poultry  and  Pig  Clubs  which  have  been  started  largely 
through  the  efforts  of  our  United  States  Department  of 
Agriculture.  In  these  the  girls  do  the  actual  work  of 
planting  and  caring  for  gardens  of  all  kinds ;  of  canning 
the  products;  and  of  raising  pigs  and  poultry.  Many 
girls  have  entered  enthusiastically  into  this  plan  and  have 
raised  splendid  vegetables  and  fruit,  pigs  and  poultry. 
Each  Club  has  kept  careful  records  of  the  expense  in- 
volved, of  the  methods  used  and  of  their  success. 

Those  who  have  come  into  contact  with  this  work  of 
the  country  Girls'  Clubs  know  what  it  has  done  for  the 
communities  in  which  the  members  live.  The  Canning 
Clubs,  for  example,  have  given  many  public  demonstra- 
tions of  their  methods  of  working.  The  girls  have  in- 
vited their  families  and  friends  to  the  demonstrations, 
which  are  usually  held  under  the  direction  of  the  County 
Agent.  In  this  way  many  people  have  been  taught  the 
best  and  latest  methods  of  preserving.  The  example  of 
the  younger  girls  has  been  a  source  of  great  stimulus 
to  the  older  people,  and  they  have  started  organizations 
of  their  own. 


212  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

These  Clubs  have  brought  together  lonely  girls  who 
had  been  missing  the  intimate  comradeship  which  girls 
in  the  city  can  so  easily  enjoy.  The  work  which  they 
have  accomplished  has  been  not  less  valuable  than  the 
social  relationships  which  they  have  established.  Often 
the  work  of  these  rural  Clubs  has  extended  beyond  the 
original  purpose  of  gardening  and  poultry-raising,  and 
the  girls  have,  in  addition,  beautified  their  school  grounds, 
have  built  community  fireplaces  in  the  county  picnic 
grounds,  and  have  contributed  to  funds  which  have  been 
raised  for  causes  of  general  welfare.  A  New  Jersey 
Camp  Fire  group  were  awarded  badges  of  merit  by  the 
State  Department  of  Conservation  and  Development  for 
services  rendered  in  connection  with  the  prevention  and 
control  of  forest  fires.  Such  work  as  this  shows  that 
the  country  girl  has  not  been  far  behind  her  city  sister 
in  seeing  what  she  can  do  for  her  community. 

The  Club's  Relation  to  Local  and  National 
Organizations 

Many  Club  Leaders  have  found  it  helpful  to  interest 
their  girls  in  the  work  of  some  national  or  local  organiza- 
tion which  has  for  its  aim  social  betterment  in  some 
one  field.  To  interest  the  girls  in  this  way  has  two  great 
advantages:  they  learn  about  the  work  of  the  other  or- 
ganization and  so  broaden  their  interests,  and  they  also 
come  to  see  the  wisdom  of  giving  support  to  an  organ- 
ization which  exists  for  the  purpose  of  intelligently 
meeting  the  problem  confronting  it.  Through  such 
means,  a  Leader  can  teach  her  girls  what  wise  giving 
involves. 


CLUB'S  RELATION  TO  COMMUNITY      213 

The  specific  organization  which  will  appeal  to  the 
girls  depends  upon  the  individual  Club.  In  the  Y.  W. 
C.  A.,  a  number  of  business  girls'  Clubs  have  as  their 
aim  an  active  cooperation  with  the  Consumers'  League. 
In  addition  to  the  financial  support  which  they  give,  the 
members  exert  their  efforts  to  create  a  demand  for 
labeled  goods,  and  to  promote  early  closing  of  shops  and 
early  Christmas  shopping.  Other  Business  Clubs  have 
taken  out  memberships  in  the  American  Association  for 
Labor  Legislation  in  order  that  they  may  keep  informed 
concerning  the  laws  affecting  women  which  come  before 
the  legislatures  of  the  various  States  and  before  Con- 
gress. Younger  girls  are  often  interested  in  the  Day 
Nurseries  of  their  town,  or  the  Children's  Hospitals, 
where  they  can  go  to  play  paper  dolls  with  the  little 
invalids  or  read  to  them.  In  some  communities,  the  Girls' 
Clubs  have  cooperated  with  the  Playground  Association 
and  have  gone  to  the  playgrounds  to  help  the  supervisor 
in  organizing  games. 

Wherever  a  Leader  can  relate  the  work  of  the  Club 
to  a  larger  organization — not  in  financial  support  alone 
but  through  the  personal  efforts  of  the  Club  members 
as  well — there  the  Club  becomes  an  active  social  force 
in  its  community. 

The  problem  be'fore  the  Leader  is  to  choose  wisely, 
from  the  multitude  of  possibilities  before  her,  those  chan- 
nels for  service  which  will  appeal  to  her  girls  and  in 
which  their  efforts  will  be  most  telling.  The  following 
list  of  organizations  has  been  compiled  from  the  records 
qf  a  large  number  of  Girls'  Clubs  and  suggests  the  many 
ways  in  which  the  Club  girls  have  already  worked  help- 
fully: 


GIRLS'  CLUBS 


Organizations  with  Which  Girls'  Clubs  Have 
Cooperated 

I.  Organizations  Interested  in  Children  and  Education. 
Children's  Bureau,  Washington,  D.  C. 
National  Child  Labor  Committee. 
Visiting  Nurse  Associations. 
District  Nurse  Associations. 
Children's  Aid  Society. 
Juvenile  Protective  Associations. 
Juvenile  Courts. 
Playground  and  Recreation  Association  of  Amer- 

ica. 

Parent-Teachers'  Associations. 
Public  Education  Associations. 
School  Extension  Societies. 
Better  Schools  Committees. 

2.  Organizations  Interested  in  Labor  Conditions  and 

Greater  Opportunities  for  Women. 
Women's  Trade  Union  League. 
National  Consumers'  League. 
National  Civic  Federation. 
United  States  Department  of  Labor. 
American  Association  for  Labor  Legislation. 
Factory  Sanitation  Commissions. 
National  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Industrial 

Education. 

Employment  Bureaus. 
Equal  Suffrage  Societies. 

3.  Organizations  Interested  in  Health  and  Living  Con- 

ditions. 
Tenement-House  Commissions. 


CLUB'S  RELATION  TO  COMMUNITY       215 

Anti-tuberculosis  Society. 

Street-Cleaning  Departments  of  cities. 

Housewives'  League. 

United  States  Food  Commission. 

United  States  Department  of  Agriculture. 

"Safety  First"  Society. 

Boards  of  Health. 

Life  Extension  Institute. 

4.  Organizations  Interested  in  Community  Activities. 

City  and  Town  Departments. 
Associations  of  Neighborhood  Workers. 
Committees  on  Amusement  Resources  of  Work- 
ing Girls. 

Merchants'  Associations. 
Women's  Clubs. 

Boards  of  Education  and  Recreation. 
Granges. 

Farmers'  Educational  and  Cooperative  Union. 
County  Improvement  Associations. 
Sabbath- School  Associations. 

5.  Organizations  Interested  in  the  Sick  and  Needy. 

American  Red  Cross. 

Charity  Organization  Societies. 

Belgian  (and  other)  Relief  Commissions. 

Hospitals. 

Salvation  Army. 

National  Sunshine  Society. 

Shut-in  Society. 

6.  Organizations    Interested    in    New    and    Isolated 

Americans. 

Home  Mission  Societies. 
U.  S.  Bureau  of  Immigration. 


216  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

7.  Organizations  Interested  in  Animals. 

Audubon  Society. 

Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to  Animals. 

8.  Organizations  Interested  in  Thrift. 

Vacation  Association. 
National  Education  Association. 
Postal  Savings. 
War- Saving- Stamps  Committee. 


The  Need  for  a  Varied  Program 

The  social  service  activities  of  any  Girls'  Club  should 
be  such  that  they  broaden  the  girls'  interests  to  the 
greatest  possible  degree.  Only  careful  thought  in  map- 
ping out  the  program  will  give  them  that  variety.  With- 
out bringing  too  many  projects  into  the  Club  life,  the 
girls  can,  in  one  year,  easily  support  other  work  for 
girls,  some  special  community  interest,  and  some  national 
interest.  A  Camp  Fire  group  in  East  Orange,  New 
Jersey,  carried  out  just  such  a  year's  program,  giving 
constructive  support  to  a  variety  of  organizations.  This 
was  their  program : 

"We  supported  a  little  French  girl  by  sending  money 
for  two  years — $74.  We  paid  $25  for  the  education  of 
a  bright,  ambitious  Indian  girl  in  Santee  Mission  School, 
Nebraska.  We  gave  $12  to  help  two  girls  in  Crowley's 
Island,  one  of  the  lonely  islands  off  the  Maine  coast, 
that  they  might  finish  their  High  School  course.  Our 
group  of  Blue  Birds  (the  younger  girls),  gave  part  of 
their  earnings  to  the  Day  Nursery.  Our  girls  have  done 
Red  Cross  work.  We  bought  a  $50  Liberty  Bond.  Our 


CLUB'S  RELATION  TO  COMMUNITY      217 

girls  earned  all  the  money  for  these  things  by  sales  and 
entertainments." 

William  Norman  Hutchins  in  his  book  called  "Graded 
Social  Service  for  the  Sunday-School"  gives  a  sug- 
gestive table  for  varied  activities  for  an  organized  Young 
People's  Department,  ages  18-21.  Selection  of  one  form 
of  service  from  each  of  the  larger  divisions  gives  a 
balanced  and  varied  program. 


Object  of  Service. 
Home  Church. 


Form  of  Service. 

1.  Regular  contributions  to  the  current 

expenses  of  the  church. 

2.  Promotion     of     class     welfare     and 

friendly  oversight  of  class  members. 

3.  Personal  interest  in  the  boys  and  girls 

of  the  church. 

4.  Conducting  walks  and  talks  on  Sun- 

day afternoons. 

5.  Editing  a  class  paper. 

6.  Ushering. 

7.  Rallying  of  the  young  people  to  attend 

church  functions. 

The  Community.  I.  Entertainment  at  the  home  church  of 

a  group  from  a  settlement. 

2.  Friendly  visiting. 

3.  Making   layettes    for   District   Nurse 

Association. 

4.  Tutoring  backward  children. 

5.  Outings  and  picnics  for  poor  children. 

6.  Serving    at    social    centers — teaching, 

conducting  games. 

7.  Providing  pleasant  Sunday  afternoons 

for  young  men  and  women  who  live 
in  boarding  houses. 

8.  Reading  to  the  sick,   aged,   and   the 

blind. 


218 

Object  of  Service. 
The  Community. 


The  Larger  World. 


GIRLS'  CLUBS 

Form  of  Service. 
9.  Singing  at  the  Old  People's  Home. 

10.  Giving  entertainments   at  almshouses 

and  asylums. 

11.  Auto    rides    for    shut-ins    and    con- 

valescents. 

12.  Disposing  of  work  made  by  inmates 

of  almshouse. 

13.  Clerical    work    at    district    office    of 

United  Charities. 

14.  Accompanying  patients  to  clinics  and 

friends  of  patients  to  visit  them  at 
the  hospital,  House  of  Correction, 
etc. 

15.  Community  Survey. 

16.  Cooperating  with  the  United  Charities 

in  assisting  a  family. 

17.  Assisting  in  Sunday-evening  services 

at  the  County  Hospital. 

18.  Contributing  to  an  outgoing  patient's 

wardrobe. 

1.  Adoption  of  some  Church  scheme  of 

benevolence. 

2.  Missionary  Plays. 


Forms  of  Personal  Service  Which  Club  Girls  Have 

Given 


A  reference  list  compiled  from  reports  of  Girls'  Clubs 
and  from  the  Social  Service  Review: 

For  Sick  People  or  Invalids. 

1.  Wheeling  invalid  chairs. 

2.  Assisting  in  providing  crutches  for  injured  children. 

3.  Providing  spectacles  for  children  who  have  eye  trouble. 


CLUB'S  RELATION  TO  COMMUNITY      219 

4.  Giving  entertainments  or  reading,  speaking,  singing  of 

playing  instruments  for  the  entertainment  of  the  in- 
mates of  city  hospitals,  homes  of  the  friendless,  city 
and  county  infirmaries,  homes  for  the  blind,  widows' 
homes  and  orphan  asylums. 

5.  As  members  of  children's  choirs  or  carol  clubs,  singing 

for  the  entertainment  of  other  children  and  of  institu- 
tional shut-ins. 

6.  Writing  postcards  and  letters  to  people  who  are  kept 

at  home,  and  sending  stamped  postcards  to  institutions 
whose  inmates  wish  to  send  out  greetings  to  others. 

7.  Cutting  out  puzzles,  making  scrapbooks,  collecting  tops, 

magazines,  pictures,  etc.,  for  hospitals  and  other  in- 
stitutions. 

8.  Distributing  flowers  and  fruit  to  hospitals  and  homes. 

9.  Canning  fruit  for  hospitals. 

10.  Distributing  literature  or  reading  to  shut-ins. 

11.  Making  "surprise  bags,"  filled  with  little  presents,  cards, 
stories,  etc.,  for  invalids. 

For  Children. 

1.  Giving  parties  at  Orphans'  Homes. 

2.  Telling  stories  at  Settlement  kindergartens. 

3.  Caring  for  children  while  mother  is  away. 

4.  Adopting  a  French  orphan. 

5.  Taking  a  Belgian  child  to  educate. 

6.  Helping  support  an  American  orphan. 

7.  Making  outfits  for  children. 

8.  Filling  Christmas  stockings. 

9.  Filling  Thanksgiving  and  Christmas  baskets. 

10.  Giving  a  Christmas  party  for  children  and  their  mothers 
at  a  Day  Nursery. 

11.  Helping  on  Playgrounds. 

For  the  Community. 

1.  Starting  a  clean-up  brigade. 

2.  Distributing  valuable  literature  for  other  organizations. 

3.  Caring  for  the  church. 

4.  Furnishing  a  Rest  Tent  at  a  big  fair  or  a  picnic. 


220  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

For  Other  Girls. 

1.  Entertaining  Clubs  of  foreign  girls. 

2.  Raising  money  to  help  a  girl  with  her  schooling. 

3.  Friendly  visiting. 

4.  Giving  a  girl  a  necessary  outfit — such  as  a  nurse's  outfit 

for  a  girl  going  into  a  hospital. 

5.  Visiting  sick  girls. 

6.  Paying  the  hospital  expenses  of  needy  girls. 

7.  Sending  girls  to  the  country. 

8.  Furnishing  a  Club  room. 

9.  Sending  supplies  to  foreign  girls  in  hospitals  or  schools. 


CHAPTER  IX 
THE  CLUB  IN  THE  OUT-OF-DOORS 

"A  PICNIC,"  "a  hike,"  "camping  out" — more  and  more 
are  Club  Leaders  hearing  of  these  from  their  girls.  It 
is  the  Call  of  the  Out-of -Doors  which  the  girls  have 
heard  and  which  they  wish  to  answer  as  a  Club.  In 
the  outskirts  of  almost  any  city  or  town,  groups  of 
"hikers"  are  now  a  familiar  sight.  On  our  vacations  in 
the  summer  time  hay-wagons,  loaded  with  girls,  pass  us 
upon  the  road,  and  we  say,  "There  go  the  camp  girls." 
The  young  voices,  joining  in  a  merry  song,  the  bright 
eyes,  and  the  pink  cheeks — all  tell  the  story  of  a  love 
of  the  out-of-doors  and  of  all  it  can  give  to  a  girl. 

It  is  difficult  to  believe  that  many  of  these  girls  who 
now  take  long  walks  regularly  and  who  spend  their  va- 
cations camping  would  never  have  known  the  delights 
of  Nature  and  outdoor  life  had  not  a  wise  Club  Leader 
aroused  their  desire  for  this  kind  of  enjoyment.  Yet 
many  Leaders  can  tell  of  their  girls'  breathless  delight 
when  first  they  saw  the  stretches  of  grass  and  the  blue 
sky.  Perhaps  the  girls  left  their  noisy  and  exciting  city 
home  a  bit  unwillingly,  finding  the  country  wo  fully 
empty  and  quiet  for  the  first  days.  Yet  these  same  girls 
two  weeks  later  will  leave  the  fresh  air,  and  the  large 
glasses  of  fresh  milk,  and  the  outdoor  games  with  re- 


221 


222  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

luctant  hearts  and  a  fervent  resolve  to  "come  again  next 
year."  Even  when  girls  come  from  homes  where  they 
have  had  opportunity  to  enjoy  the  out-of-doors,  a  hike 
or  a  camping  party  with  girls  of  their  own  age  holds  a 
new  charm  and  fascination. 

The  Leader  of  a  city  Club  often  faces  the  task  of 
actually  teaching  her  girls  this  enjoyment  of  Nature. 
There  may  have  been  no  one  in  their  lives  before  to 
call  their  attention  to  the  stars  shining  above  the  city 
streets,  or  to  tell  them  that  a  five-cent  car  ride  will  take 
them  to  a  lake  or  a  river  or  a  "zoo."  There  has  been 
no  one  to  offer  them  the  opportunity  of  two  weeks' 
camping  at  a  cost  which  their  pocketbooks  can  meet. 
The  Club  Leader  who  points  out  the  way,  who  makes 
it  easy  for  her  girls  to  get  into  the  open,  is  starting  them 
upon  a  path  of  enjoyment  which  will  lead  them  into 
pleasant  ways  all  their  lives. 

Strangely  enough,  the  Leader  of  a  Club  of  country 
girls  may  face  this  same  problem — that  of  interesting 
her  girls  in  the  out-of-doors.  They  have  always  lived 
in  the  country.  They  see  the  fields  and  the  trees  and 
the  sky  every  day.  What,  then,  is  of  such  great  interest 
in  these  everyday  surroundings  of  theirs?  But  no  one 
has  ever  told  them  the  story  of  some  nearby  historic 
spot,  where  they  may  meet  for  a  picnic,  cooking  their 
supper  outdoors  for  the  first  time.  No  one  has  ever 
suggested  that  they  can  build  an  outdoor  fireplace  in 
the  Grange  picnic  grounds,  or  a  log  cabin  in  which  to 
put  couches  for  tired  mothers  at  the  big  gatherings  of 
the  country  folk. 

With  such  help  as  this  from  their  Leaders,  hundreds  of 
girls  have  come  to  know  the  delights  of  fresh  air  and  ex- 


THE  CLUB  IN  THE  OUT-OF-DOORS   223 

ercise.  The  sun  and  the  wind  have  brought  pink  to  many 
cheeks  which  had  grown  pale  and  brightness  to  many  eyes 
which  had  become  dull  because  of  montonous  work. 
Besides  this  gift  of  health,  these  Club  activities  in  the 
open  have  brought  fresh  interests  into  the  lives  of  the 
girls.  The  beauties  of  Nature  have  been  opened  before 
them — the  wonders  of  the  sunrise  and  the  sunset;  of  the 
birds  of  many  colors  and  tuneful  songs;  of  fragrant 
flowers. 

"I  never  knew  there  was  anything  like  this  in  the 
world,"  exclaimed  a  young  Club  girl,  as  she  stood  on  a 
high  hill,  looking  down  into  a  broad  green  valley,  far 
below,  "No  one  ever  told  me  it  was  like  this."  And 
she  stood  silent,  before  a  picture  which  she  was  to  re- 
member for  many  a  long  day. 

Realizing  the  gift  which  the  out-of-doors  can  give  to 
girls,  the  large  organizations  of  Girls'  Clubs  have  con- 
sistently sounded  the  Call  to  the  Open — the  Young 
Women's  Christian  Association  in  its  many  summer 
Camps  and  outdoor  conferences;  the  Camp  Fire  Girls, 
the  Girl  Scouts  and  the  Woodcraft  League.  Indeed,  the 
very  names  of  the  latter  are  suggestive  of  the  out-of- 
doors.  The  watchword  of  the  Woodcraft  League  is 
"Blue  Sky."  "For  under  the  blue  sky  in  the  sunlight, 
we  seek  to  live  our  lives;  our  thoughts  are  'blue  sky' 
thoughts  that  mean  cheer;  and  when  there  are  clouds, 
we  know  that  the  blue  sky  is  ever  behind  them  and  will 
come  again." 

"Do  you  know  the  twelve  secrets  of  the  woods?"  the 
Woodcraft  League  asks.  "Do  you  know  the  umbrella 
that  stands  upspread  to  show  that  there  is  a  restaurant 
in  the  cellar?  Can  you  tell  why  the  rabbit  puts  his  hind 


224  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

feet  down  ahead  of  his  front  ones  as  he  runs?  Can  you 
tell  why  the  squirrel  buries  every  other  nut,  and  who  it 
was  who  placed  those  shag-barks  along  the  fence  ?  Have 
you  learned  to  overcome  the  poison  ivy  that  once  was 
so  feared  and  is  now  so  lightly  held  by  those  who 
know?"  These  questions  arouse  the  curiosity  and  sug- 
gest the  many  mysteries  which  girls  can  fathom  in  their 
outdoor  activities. 

The  Woodcraft  Manual  for  girls  suggests  many  things 
to  be  done  in  the  out-of-doors — City  woodcraft,  camper- 
craft,  wood-lore  and  handicraft,  and  friends  in  the  out- 
of-doors.  The  Camp  Fire  bases  the  attainment  of  many 
of  its  honors  upon  its  members'  knowledge  of  Nature. 
Forty-five  honors  are  to  be  won  in  healthcraft,  open  to 
members  who  "sleep  outdoors  or  with  wide-open  windows 
for  two  consecutive  months  between  October  and  April 
inclusive — skate  twenty-five  miles  in  any  five  days  (not 
necessarily  consecutively) — swim  one  mile  in  any  six 
days  (not  necessarily  consecutively)." 

In  the  Camp  Fire  division  of  "Nature  Lore"  there  are 
one  hundred  and  fifty-nine  honors  to  be  won:  "identify 
and  describe  any  fifteen  trees  in  such  a  way  as  to  assure 
future  recognition  (a)  in  summer  and  (b)  in  winter. 
Identify  and  describe  twenty  wild  flowers.  Identify  and 
describe  twenty  wild  birds.  Do  all  the  work  in  a  suc- 
cessful garden.  This  may  be  for  use  or  for  beauty  or 
both."  Winning  any  of  the  one  hundred  and  thirty 
honors  in  "Camp  Craft"  means  that  the  girl  who  accom- 
plishes this  has  fitted  herself  in  one  branch  of  outdoor  life. 
Winning  many  of  them  fits  a  girl  to  live  comfortably 
there.  "Erect  a  tent,  having  selected  its  location.  (Two 
girls  may  work  together  on  this.)  Make  a  shelter  and  a 


*TO  MAKE  t»g 

BEST  BETTER" 


A  HOME  GARDEN  AND  CANNING  CLUB  POSTER 

Department  of  Agriculture 


CANNING  WHAT  THEY  HAVE  GROWN 

A  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture  Club 


THE  CLUB  IN  THE  OUT-OF-DOORS       225 

bed  from  material  found  in  the  woods.  Build  an  open 
fire  in  wind  and  rain  with  material  found  outdoors  and 
build  a  proper  bonfire.  (No  fire  is  credited  until  it  is 
properly  left  or  put  out.)  Do  all  the  camp  cooking 
without  help  or  advice  for  one  day  for  four  or  more 
persons;  this  includes  getting  the  wood,  and  making  an 
open  fire.  Suitable  character,  variety,  and  amounts  of 
food  are  to  be  furnished.  The  menu  must  be  written; 
quantities  and  prices  stated.  Know  the  proper  disposal 
of  Camp  garbage  and  refuse,  and  dispose  of  it  for  one 
Camp  Fire  for  one  week."  Such  knowledge  as  this  gives 
a  girl  confidence,  and  is  useful  to  her  whether  at  home 
or  in  camp. 

Such  is  the  emphasis  which  is  being  placed  upon  out- 
door activities  in  Clubs  all  over  the  country.  The  re- 
sponse of  the  girls  and  the  ever-increasing  interest  in 
these  pursuits  tell  the  story  of  the  possibilities  which  lie 
before  every  Club  which  includes  those  activities  in  its 
plans. 

The  Outdoor  Country  Club 

There  are  many  Girls'  Clubs  whose  activities  lie  largely 
in  the  out-of-doors.  For  years,  the  United  States  De- 
partment of  Agriculture  has  deemed  this  Club  work  of 
such  vital  importance  that  the  Club  plan  has  been  directly 
incorporated  into  the  official  program  of  that  Department. 
This  policy  has  included  the  organization  and  promoting 
among  boys  and  girls  of 

Sheep  Clubs. 

Pig  Clubs. 

Cow  Feeding  and  Testing  Club. 


226  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

Baby  Beef  Clubs. 

Dairy  Herd  Clubs. 

Poultry  Clubs. 

Corn  Clubs. 

Potato  Clubs. 

Bean  Clubs. 

Sugar  Beet  Clubs. 

Fruit  Clubs. 

Apple  Clubs. 

Home  Garden  Clubs. 

Flower  Garden  Clubs. 

Miscellaneous  Field  Clubs. 

1.  Better  Seed. 

2.  Wheat  Seed. 

3.  Cotton. 

4.  Tomato. 

Mother-Daughter  Home  Canning  Clubs. 
Farm  and  Home  Handicraft  Clubs. 

This  Club  work  is  under  the  cooperative  guidance  of 
the  local  farm  agency,  the  county  bureau  of  the  U.  S. 
Department  of  Agriculture.  Every  member  conducts  at 
her  home  a  definite  farm  or  home-making  demonstration 
for  the  year.  The  variety  of  Club  projects  makes  it 
possible  for  each  prospective  Club  member  to  choose 
that  which  is  best  suited  to  her  own  individual  taste  and 
to  her  own  opportunities.  Each  girl  who  wishes  to 
enter  the  Club  work  fills  out  an  application,  stating  the 
kind  of  Club  she  wishes  to  join. 


(State.)              (County.) 
Date ,  191 

I  hereby  make  application  for  membership  in  the 

National  Boys*  and  Girls'  Club, 

(Name  choice  here.) 
and  if  admitted  I  shall  endeavor  to  follow  all  instruc- 


THE  CLUB  IN  THE  OUT-OF-DOORS   227 

tions,  attend  meetings,  and  exhibit  products  from 
my  crop  at  a  local  or  district  fair.  I  will  keep  an 
accurate  *-ecord  of  my  work,  expenses,  and  receipts, 
and  will  make  a  complete  crop  report  at  the  close 
of  the  season  and  forward  same  to  the  State  Agent 
or  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture. 

(Signed)  — • . 

Age 

P.  O.  address .  R.  D. 


Once  enrolled,  she  asks  her  father  for  a  plot  of  land 
which  she  may  use  for  growing  corn  or  other  vegetables 
or  for  raising  pigs  or  for  whatever  project  she  has 
decided  upon.  These  steps  necessary  for  success  in  each 
experiment  have  been  carefully  worked  out  by  our  Gov- 
ernment experts.  By  reading  the  pamphlets  which  have 
been  prepared  for  each  of  these  Clubs,  a  girl  can  get  an 
exact  idea  of  why  the  Club  has  been  organized  and  what 
she  must  do  to  be  a  successful  Club  member.  Concerning 
the  Sheep  Club  work,  for  example,  we  read :  "All  sheep 
Club  work  done  in  the  various  States  shall  be  part  of  the 
Agricultural  Club  work  of  the  extension  service  of  the 
respective  State  Agricultural  colleges  (since  the  colleges 
have  the  plan  and  the  force  for  executing  the  plan,  and 
the  work  is  cooperative  with  the  United  States  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture).  The  live  stock  specialists  and 
Club  Leaders  in  the  extension  forces  in  cooperation  with 
the  college  animal  husbandmen  will  supervise  the  work." 
The  objects  of  these  sheep  Clubs  are:  "i.  To  stimulate 
interest  in  sheep  production  by  teaching  farm  boys  and 
girls  how  to  raise  sheep  cheaply  through  the  use  of  well- 
bred  stock,  and  the  utilization  of  pastures,  grazing  crops, 


228  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

wastes,  etc.  2.  To  increase  the  number  of  sheep  in  the 
United  States  to  help  lessen  the  meat  and  wool  shortage. 
3.  To  enable  farm  boys  and  girls  to  earn  money  for 
themselves  while  at  home.  4.  To  instruct  the  farm  boys 
and  girls  in  judging,  selecting,  feeding  and  caring  for 
sheep,  and  marketing  wool,  in  order  that  they  may  be 
trained  flock  masters  as  they  become  the  farmers  of 
to-morrow.  5.  To  vitalize  the  agriculture  taught  in  rural 
schools  by  utilizing  the  love  for  animal  life  inherent  in 
young  people.  6.  To  insure  a  balanced  husbandry  by 
developing  the  live-stock  industry  along  with  crop  pro- 
duction and  to  supplement  the  Club  work  along  crop 
production  lines/' 

Once  a  Club  member  is  well  on  her  way,  she  finds 
that  she  is  not  working  alone.  The  County  Agent  gives 
her  constant  help  and  suggestion.  In  her  record  book 
she  finds  many  little  hints,  prepared  by  the  Government 
officials.  In  the  Sheep  Club  Record  Book,  she  reads 
"Shepherd's  Don'ts.  I.  Don't  keep  sheep  on  wet  land. 
2.  Don't  feed  timothy  hay,  moldy  or  spoiled  hay  or 
spoiled  roots,  silage,  or  grain.  3.  Don't  forget  to  keep 
fresh  water  and  salt  before  the  sheep" — and  so  on. 
When  the  Club  members  meet,  they  tell  of  the  work 
they  are  doing  and  of  the  difficulties  which  they  are  find- 
ing. Often,  one  Club  member  has  found  an  excellent 
way  of  solving  a  difficulty.  This  knowledge  she  gladly 
passes  on  to  her  fellow-members,  for  one  of  the  objects 
of  these  Clubs  is  mutual  helpfulness. 

Each  girl  keeps  a  careful  record  of  all  that  she  does. 
These  records  are  valuable  as  a  guide  from  season  to 
season.  For  many  of  the  Club  members  who  started  this 
work  five  years  ago  are  still  faithful  and  enthusiastic 


THE  CLUB  IN  THE  OUT-OF-DOORS   229 

United  States  Department  of  Agriculture 

Bureau  of  Animal  Industry  and  States  Relation  Service 
SHEEP  CLUB  RECORD  BOOK 


EWES  AND  LAMBS 


Name Age. 

County P.  O R.  F.  D.. . . 

Name  of  Club 

Club  Leader County  Agent 


BASIS  OF  AWARD  TO  BE  STAMPED  HERE 
BY  EACH  AGENT 


1.  Number  of  sheep 

2.  Breeding  (whether  grade  or  pure  bred) 

3.  Ages 4.  Date  of  record  started . 

5.  Value  of  sheep  at  start 

6.  Weight  of  sheep  at  start 


7.  About  how  many  minutes  did  you  spend  each 
day  caring  for  your  sheep  before  lambing?. 


After  lambing? 

8.  How  many  hours  for  whole  contest? 

(Signed.) 

Date  when  contest  and  record  are  finished . 


230 


GIRLS'  CLUBS 


members.  Their  notebooks  show  all  the  details  of  the 
work,  the  cost  of  seed  or  other  materials,  the  date  of 
starting  the  work,  and  a  record  of  methods  used.  In 


MATES  DEPARTMENT  OF  ACRICULTTOB, 

Burtiu  of  Autoul  Industry, 
CtofMtat  with  the  Sut.  ColJ.g.  of  Aericultwt. 


P00LTRT  CLDB  REPORT  HO.  1. 

taVBT  OF  HATCHING  A^D  BROODING  CHICKS. 
Hen.  --  -  .  -    Ap  - 


TOTTED  STATES  DKPARTUKfll  OF  AGWCD1TDBH 

BureiuofAaiaj.lIr.daltry, 
Coopertllnj  with  th«  SttU  CoUe<«  «f  t 

POULTRY  CLUB  REPORT  BO.  J. 


YEARLY  EGO  REPORT. 


FMtofBe*. 

Ooimty  . 


Oounly 

lUnie  of  Poultry  dub 
Y«w  in  club  wo* 


JfKMofpoiiltryclak  — 

YWlndubwxxfcj. 

I5re«dorT«rietyoffcTrI.. 


of  nriety  of  fowls... 


t\ 


How  brooded 

Kind*  of  tod  Jed 


Arner:  To  the  be»t  of 
«nd  i'ie  work  uu  been  done 
Parent's  ntme  , 
Teacher 'snwne 

.   Now.-TtM 
dona  ind  held 


>  report  must  be  filled  out  u  won  u  work  ii 
unttl  c»lled  tor  by  the  agent.  The  most  auc. 
r«  ia  all  club  work  v*  tiuM  who  keep  complete 


Record  Blanks  for  Poultry  Club  Members,  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture. 

addition  to  this  record,  each  girl  writes  an  essay  which 
describes  the  story  of  it  all  in  a  connected  way.  In  the 
work  upon  the  essay  many  school  teachers  cooperate 
with  the  County  Agricultural  Agent,,  thus  combining 


THE  CLUB  IN  THE  OUT-OF-DOORS       231 

Club  and  school  work.  The  form  for  a  record,  suggested 
in  Farmers'  Bulletin  No.  385,  U.  S.  Department  of 
Agriculture,  on  "Boys'  and  Girls'  Agricultural  Clubs" 
comprises  forty- four  entries,  among  them  (for  a  Corn- 
Growing  Club)  the  following: 

How  the  Corn  Crop  Was  Grown 

I.  Grown  by  ,  school  district  . 


2.  Post  Office  address . 

3.  Area  of  plat  in  square  rods .    (Not  less  than 

acre. ) 


4.  Kind  of  soil  (loam,  sand,  clay)  . 

5.  Kind  of  crop  grown  on  it  the  year  before . 

6.  Kind  of  crop  grown  on  it  the  second  year  before 


7.  Kind  and  amount  of  fertilizer  used . 

8.  Cost  or  value  of  fertilizer . 

9.  Date  of  plowing . 

10.  Hours  required,  self ,  horse . 

After  the  Club  members  have  worked  through  the 
season,  many  of  them  hold  exhibits  in  connection  with 
the  County  Fairs.  The  best  of  the  products  of  each 
Club  member  are  entered  here  in  the  regular  classes  in 
which  premiums  are  given.  The  exhibit  may  be  a  pair 
of  chickens,  some  pigs,  corn  or  whatever  the  Club  mem- 
bers have  worked  with.  In  some  Clubs,  the  members 
not  only  raise  the  vegetables  or  fruit  but  later  preserve 
them  as  well.  Where  a  number  of  Clubs  have  been  at 
work  in  a  County,  a  combined  exhibit  of  the  results  of 
their  work  has  been  most  impressive.  The  following 
Demonstration  Program  has  been  suggested  for  such  an 
exhibit  by  the  Department  of  Agriculture : 


232  GIRLS'  CLUBS 


Demonstration  Program 

1.  Rope  tying.     Show  how  to  tie  and  mount  knots;  how  to 

conduct  a  contest. 

2.  Hen  coop  and  brooder.    How  to  make  and  use. 

3.  Fruit  grafting.    Three  methods. 

4.  Tree  surgery.    Three  types  of  tree  surgery. 

5.  Road  drag.    How  to  make  and  use. 

6.  Soldering  outfits.    Two  kinds. 

7.  Mixing  cement.    Walk,  post,  tile,  and  floor. 

8.  Sharpening  saw,  scythe,  and  ax. 

9.  Repairing  shears.    Three  kinds. 
10.  Home  mechanics : 

a.  Pull  a  nail. 

b.  Use  a  wrench. 

c.  Make  a  spring. 

d.  Make  a  coat  hanger. 

e.  Repair  leak  in  pipe. 
/.  Repair  crack  in  iron. 
g.  Make  solder. 

h.  Make  flux. 

t.  Tin  the  copper. 

/.  Remove  grease. 

k.  Remove  a  blue  print. 

/.  Wire  a  door  bell. 

m.  Make  an  extension  cord. 

«.  Sharpen  a  bit  and  chisel. 

o.  Develop  pictures. 

p.  Remove  spots  from  clothing. 

The  great  increase  each  year  in  the  number  of  these 
Clubs  shows  their  popularity  among  the  girls  and  boys 
of  our  country.  Official  word  from  Washington  has 
constantly  assured  the  Club  members  that  their  work  is 
a  practical  service  to  the  nation.  The  splendid  quality 
of  the  exhibits  shown  at  the  county  fairs  proves  the 
success  of  the  efforts.  No  small  number  of  these  exhibits 


THE  CLUB  IN  THE  OUT-OF-DOORS   233 


have  been  prize  winners,  and  many  older  workers  upon 
the  farms,  looking  at  them,  have  been  stimulated  by  the 
efforts  of  the  young  people  to  try  the  progressive  methods 
for  themselves.  And  so  it  is  difficult  to  estimate  the 
many  beneficial  results  of  this  work.  Not  only  have 
thousands  of  young  people  been  trained  in  scientific  farm 
methods,  but,  through  them,  their  homes  have  also  been 
reached.  Some  idea  of  the  great  good  which  is  being 
accomplished,  however,  may  be  gained  from  the  follow- 
ing summary  for  the  year  1917,  a  report  issued  by  the 
Department  of  Agriculture : 

SUMMARY  OF  RESULTS  SECURED  BY  CLUB  MEMBERS 


PROJECTS. 

No.  of 
members 
making 
complete 
reports. 

WHAT  THEY  PRODUCED. 

Corn  clubs      .    .    . 

7  24Q 

4.58  87^.4.7  bushels. 

Potato  clubs 

8  QQQ 

325  786      bushels. 

Bean  clubs  

121 

126,460      pounds. 

Grain  sorghum  clubs. 
Garden  clubs 

335 
80  512 

203,383       pounds. 
$999  967.68  fresh  vegetables. 

Canning  clubs  

25,64.1 

217,160.75  jars,   jelly,    1,578,510.5 

Sugar  beet  clubs 

A  Ql6 

quarts  fruit,  vegetables,  meats, 
and  soups. 
38  864  tons. 

Poultry  clubs  

4.776 

106,358  chicks     (35,370  doz.  eggs). 

Pig  clubs  

7.T.82 

10,583  animals  (1,797,196  Ibs.). 

Baby  beef  clubs  

486 

415  animals  (531,319  Ibs.). 

Sheep  clubs    

6l 

178  animals  (32,657  Ibs.). 

Calf  clubs    

4.87 

599  calves. 

Bread  clubs 

e  2A2 

T.4.6  608  loaves. 

Garment-making  clubs 
Cooking    and    Home 
Economics  clubs  .  .  . 
Handicraft  clubs.  .  .  . 

13,165 

1,244 
707 

92,189  garments. 

$5,753-10. 
1,288  pieces. 

234  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

Other  Outdoor  Clubs 

The  idea  of  the  Outdoor  Club  is,  however,  not  entirely 
limited  to  the  country.  Vacant  lots  in  our  towns  and 
cities  are  coming  to  be  used  more  and  more  for  vegetable 
gardens.  Clubs  of  girls  have  been  organized  to  cultivate 
and  sow  this  ground.  In  many  communities,  their  efforts 
have  been  encouraged  by  the  gift  of  free  seeds  to  all 
undertaking  the  work.  Often,  too,  a  medal  or  certificate 
has  been  awarded  by  city  or  town  officials  to  those  who 
have  faithfully  cultivated  their  gardens.  Leaders  are 
agreed  that  work  such  as  this  gives  to  the  girls  a  new 
appreciation  of  the  value  of  food  products,  in  addition 
to  the  practical  knowledge  which  is  theirs  by  the  end 
of  the  season.  Records  kept  by  the  City  Garden  Club 
members  are  just  as  valuable  as  those  kept  by  the  coun- 
try girls.  The  necessity  for  keeping  a  record  trains  the 
girls  in  making  careful  observations  and  in  writing  what 
they  have  seen. 

Not  all  Outdoor  Clubs  have  been  organized  for  the 
purpose  of  gardening  or  other  agricultural  pursuits.  The 
Audubon  or  Bird  Clubs  have  aroused  great  interest  in 
birds.  Long  walks  in  the  country,  listening  to  the  sweet 
bird-calls,  eager  searching  of  the  tree  for  the  little 
warbler — all  of  these  give  a  pleasant  and  profitable  basis 
for  Club  activity.  Once  a  girl  has  been  interested  in 
the  birds,  there  are  many  opportunities  for  her  to  carry 
on  her  observations.  The  tree  in  her  back  yard,  the 
city  square  through  which  she  passes  on  her  way  to 
school  or  work,  these,  too,  are  often  filled  with  the 
feathered  visitors.  Audubon  members  have  built  bird 
houses  and  have  scattered  seed  and  crumbs  to  attract  the 


THE  CLUB  IN  THE  OUT-OF-DOORS       235 

birds.  A  bird  notebook,  kept  from  year  to  year,  gives 
a  record  of  the  birds  seen  and  the  dates  of  their  first 
appearances.  In  one  State  the  Audubon  Society  has 
conducted  a  paper  to  which  the  Club  members  have 
written,  telling  of  the  birds  which  they  have  seen.  An 
"honor  badge,"  to  be  worn  for  one  month,  has  been 
awarded  to  the  Club  member  writing  the  best  letter  dur- 
ing the  previous  month.  Special  contests  have  been  held 
from  time  to  time,  stimulating  the  interest  of  the  Audu- 
bon members  in  what  they  have  been  doing.  One  Club 
girl  was  awarded  a  book  on  birds  for  her  success  in 
gathering  the  largest  number  of  bird  proverbs.  Careful 
search  in  the  public  library  gave  to  her  the  necessary 
material,  and  the  total  collection  numbered  several  hun- 
dred proverbs  from  many  countries. 

Outdoor  Activities  in  Any  Club 

Not  all  Clubs,  however,  have  an  opportunity  for  ex- 
tensive outdoor  activities.  There  are  the  city  Clubs  who 
are  far  distant  from  real  country  and  whose  Club  mem- 
bers are  busy  all  day  and  every  day  in  the  week.  In 
Clubs  such  as  these,  interest  in  the  out-of-doors  may  be 
aroused  in  a  number  of  ways.  There  are  the  stories 
which  the  Club  Leader  tells  from  time  to  time.  Some 
of  these  may  center  their  interest  in  Nature  and  her 
romance.  Pictures,  on  the  wall  or  in  magazines,  and 
travel  talks  are  often  of  great  interest  to  the  girls.  One 
Leader  whose  girls  had  enjoyed  a  three-day  hike  in  the 
mountains  in  the  Eastern  part  of  the  United  States  took 
them  all  to  an  illustrated  talk  on  the  mountains  of 
Switzerland.  The  pictures  of  mountain-climbing  had  a 


236  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

special  interest  to  these  Club  members  because  they  them- 
selves had  gone  up  steep  paths  and  had  become  acquainted 
with  climbing  difficulties. 

Even  in  the  city  there  are  walks  to  be  taken,  and  the 
birds  in  the  city  squares  are  often  more  numerous  than 
the  casual  observer  may  think.  The  stars  shine  down 
upon  the  city  girl  as  well  as  upon  her  country  sister. 
The  alert  Leader  sees  in  such  channels  as  these  the 
opportunity  for  Nature  study  which  she  is  seeking.  She 
can  investigate  her  own  locality  and  plan  "hikes"  to  points 
of  interest.  If  the  girls  are  able  to  go  for  a  camping 
trip  in  the  summer,  preparations  for  the  trip  have  often 
been  the  basis  for  many  enjoyable  Club  activities.  One 
city  Club,  whose  members  decided  to  make  a  special 
study  of  birds  on  their  camping  trip,  spent  several  de- 
lightful afternoons  in  the  city  museum,  looking  at  the 
collections  of  stuffed  birds.  These  trips  not  only  helped 
them  in  their  bird  study  but  also  gave  them  an  ac- 
quaintance with  the  museum  and  the  interesting  treasures 
there. 

The  "Hike."  Every  Club  can  have  "hikes"  or  walking 
trips.  The  idea  is  appealing  to  most  girls.  To  be  suc- 
cessful a  hike  should  be  carefully  planned  before  the 
girls  start.  Its  length  should  always  be  adapted  to  the 
strength  of  the  girls ;  a  walk  that  is  too  exhausting  may 
bring  the  members  to  dislike  the  plan  of  hikes,  and 
future  suggestions  for  walking  trips  will  not  be  met  with 
delight.  A  definite  objective  in  the  trip  will  always  add 
interest.  Every  one  knows  that  it  is  "more  fun"  to  walk 
to  a  certain  place  than  it  is  to  walk  merely  for  the  sake 
of  walking.  The  objective  of  the  walk  may  be  a  high 
hill  from  which  there  is  a  beautiful  view,  or  a  place 


THE  CLUB  IN  THE  OUT-OF-DOORS        237 

where  the  girls  may  build  a  fire  and  cook  their  lunch. 
At  a  meeting  before  the  hike  the  girls  can  choose  the 
place  which  they  wish  to  visit,  and  the  date  and  hour. 
At  the  time  appointed,  the  Club  meets,  dressed  for  walk- 
ing, with  special  attention  to  shoes  with  flat,  sensible 
heels.  Some  member  of  the  Club  is  made  "pacemaker" 
and  the  Club  agrees  to  follow  her  lead.  As  the  girls 
walk  along,  perhaps  they  sing  some  marching  songs,. 
Tired  feet  are  often  forgotten  as  the  girls  swing  into 
rhythm  and  march  along  together.  Or  perhaps  they  play 
a  little  game,  counting  the  horses,  or  cows  or  birds 
which  they  see  by  the  side  of  the  road.  Many  trips 
have  been  made  interesting  by  such  devices. 

When  the  hike  ends  in  a  picnic  supper,  the  girls  have 
the  added  joy  of  building  an  outdoor  fire  and  cooking. 
A  simple  menu,  and  plenty  of  it,  is  easily  planned.  Many 
happy  outdoor  suppers  have  consisted  of  nothing  more 
than  rolls,  bacon  (cooked  and  put  inside  the  rolls)  and 
fruit.  The  exercise  and  the  fun  of  cooking  have  made 
this  simple  fare  seem  like  a  sumptuous  repast  to  hungry 
girls. 

The  Camping  Trip.  All  the  pleasures  of  hikes  and 
picnics  are  but  a  foretaste  of  the  joys  of  the  camp- 
ing trip.  To  live  for  a  time  in  the  out-of-doors  is 
a  great  experience  for  a  Club.  On  such  a  trip,  the 
girls  come  to  know  each  jther  more  intimately  than  ever 
before.  By  daily  contact  and  by  working  together,  they 
learn  team  work  in  the  truest  sense  of  the  phrase.  The 
camping  idea  has  come  to  the  Girls'  Club  to  stay. 

In  general,  there  are  two  kinds  of  camping  trips :  that 
on  which  the  girls  take  their  entire  equipment,  including 
tents,  cots,  and  cooking  utensils,  and  themselves  do  the 


238  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

work  of  the  camp ;  and  the  trip  which  is  made  by  Clubs 
of  girls  to  large  camps  already  flourishing,  where  each 
girl  pays  a  definite  sum  for  her  board;  where  the  cook- 
ing for  the  camp  is  done  in  a  central  kitchen  and  served 
in  a  central  dining-shack.  In  these  larger  camps,  the 
activities  are  under  the  direction  of  a  trained  recrea- 
tional Leader  who  plans  a  variety  of  interests  which  will 
appeal  to  the  girls. 

For  some  Clubs,  the  experience  gained  in  building  a 
camp,  in  caring  for  it,  and  in  cooking  is  just  what  the 
girls  need  to  develop  their  self-confidence.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  plan  of  going  to  a  larger  camp  where  the 
girls  are  relieved  of  these  duties  is  often  wise.  Such 
a  relief  from  responsibility  may  be  just  what  the  tired 
young  business  girl  needs.  Time  to  rest  and  relax,  to 
take  long  walks,  with  a  hearty  meal  awaiting  her  return 
• — this  is  what  she  craves.  All  through  the  year  she  has 
worked  in  business  and  perhaps  has  helped  with  the  home 
tasks.  During  her  precious  two  weeks'  vacation,  she 
may  not  wish  to  cook  or  to  wash  dishes. 

But  whichever  kind  of  camping  trip  is  planned,  the 
preparations  for  it  occupy  many  Club  meetings.  There 
is  the  problem  of  clothes  to  be  discussed.  Every  pro- 
spective camper  should  understand  that  a  good  camping 
outfit  need  not  be  elaborate  but  should  be  suitable  for 
outdoor  life.  Bloomers,  tennis  shoes,  and  a  "middy" 
have  come  to  be  the  popular  costume  for  every  day  in 
camp.  Add  to  this  a  sweater  and  a  coat,  a  skirt,  rubbers 
and  raincoat,  and  the  girl  is  equipped  with  all  the  nec- 
essary outside  clothing.  Beside  the  all-important  ques- 
tion of  clothes,  there  are  other  camp  details  which  have 
interested  Clubs.  Camp  banners  have  been  made,  ready 


THE  CLUB  IN  THE  OUT-OF-DOORS       239 

to  hang  in  front  of  the  camp.  Song  leaders  have  been 
appointed  and  the  members  have  learned  special  camp 
songs.  Sometimes  a  committee  on  Camp  Stunts  and 
Entertainment  is  appointed,  its  duties  being  to  plan  for* 
surprise  occasions  in  camp.  With  an  energetic  com- 
mittee, such  plans  as  these  have  often  solved  the  rainy- 
day  problem. 

The  Club  that  is  planning  an  independent  camping 
trip  must  have  more  extensive  preliminary  discussions. 
All  points  must  be  carefully  worked  out  in  advance,  and 
each  girl  should  be  made  to  feel  her  own  responsibility 
for  a  share  of  the  work.  The  Club  must  consider  the 
following  points: 

Site  of  the  Camp. 

Tents,  Cots,  Bedding. 

Cooking  Utensils. 

Fuel. 

Provisions  to  be  taken. 

Resources  for  the  purchase  of  milk,  eggs,  etc., 
near  the  camp. 

Transportation. 

Nearest  doctor,  in  case  of  accident. 

Provision  for  First  Aid  to  the  Injured. 
An  estimate  can  then  be  drawn  of  the  probable  expense 
of  the  trip.  The  Leader  who  has  had  little  experience 
will  do  wisely  to  consult  an  experienced  camper.  "Be 
prepared  for  anything  that  may  happen" — this  is  the 
motto  which  a  Girls'  Club  Leader  says  she  takes  in 
preparing  for  trips.  There  will  be  many  daily  questions 
to  be  met.  Rainy  days  may  come  to  any  camping  party. 
A  nearby  barn  on  the  land  of  a  friendly  farmer  will 
help  to  make  such  times  pass  pleasantly.  The  estimated 


24o  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

amount  of  provisions  may  prove  too  small,  and  when 
supplies  run  low  the  knowledge  that  a  country  store  is 
not  far  away  will  help.  A  careful  survey  of  all  details 
and  a  visit  to  the  proposed  site  will  help  a  Leader  when 
the  time  comes  to  establish  the  camp.  Many  Leaders  have 
followed  the  plan  of  sending  a  man  to  the  site  a  few 
days  before  the  camping  party  arrives,  to  see  that  all 
is  in  readiness — the  site  cleared,  the  wood  ready,  and 
other  hard  work  done.  If  too  heavy  work  is  put  upon 
the  girls  on  the  day  of  their  arrival,  they  may  become 
exhausted  and  the  second  day  of  the  trip  will  find  a 
weary  group  of  girls. 

From  the  outset,  the  Leader  will  find  it  greatly  to  her 
advantage  to  make  a  definite  schedule  for  the  daily  life 
of  the  camp.  Following  it  will  assure  the  prompt  per- 
formance of  the  daily  tasks  and  place  the  fun  of  the  day 
at  the  most  advantageous  times.  The  following  is  a 
Camp  Fire  suggestion : 

A  Day  in  Camp 

7:00  Bugle  exercise  and  morning  dip. 

7:30  Breakfast. 

8:00  Sing  and  daily  announcements. 

8:30  Tent  in  order. 

9  :oo  Craft  and  First  Aid  Work. 
1 1 130  End  of  Craft  Work. 
12:00  Dinner. 

i  :oo  Quiet  Hour. 

2:30  Swimming. 

4:00  Walks  and  preparation  of  outdoor  supper. 

8:30  Bugle. 

9:00  Lights  Out. 


THE  CLUB  IN  THE  OUT-OF-DOORS   241 

Camp  housekeeping  is  a  most  important  part  of  any 
camping  trip.  Each  girl  should  understand  just  what 
it  expected  of  her.  Where  the  more  extensive  work  is 
done  by  the  girls  themselves,  a  regular  division  of  the 
work  should  be  made  with  the  campers  working  in 
shifts.  In  this  way,  the  more  difficult  parts  of  the  work 
are  divided  and  each  girl  does  her  just  share.  Arouse 
an  interest  in  "Tent  Inspection,"  and  the  girls  will  come 
to  take  great  pride  in  the  appearance  of  their  camp.  In 
one  large  camp,  each  year  there  has  been  much  friendly 
rivalry  among  the  girls  to  see  which  section  of  the  Camp 
can  be  made  most  artistic  in  its  appearance.  The  campers 
have  made  little  hanging  baskets  filled  with  ferns,  to  be 
hung  in  their  tents,  while  others  have  carefully  trans- 
planted daisies,  placing  them  by  the  steps  leading  to 
their  tent  platforms.  So  zealous  have  been  their  efforts 
that  visitors  to  this  camp  have  never  failed  to  remark 
upon  its  attractive  appearance. 

The  Rest  Hour.  It  is  a  wise  rule  that  there  be  a  rest 
hour  each  day,  and  that  "lights  out"  in  the  evening  means 
"silence."  Many  arduous  campers  may  object  to  this: 
the  time  is  so  short  for  the  trip — why  waste  any  of  it  in 
resting?  This  is  the  way  in  which  the  periods  of  rest 
first  appear  to  the  campers.  But  when  the  girls  are 
forced  to  observe  the  rest  hour,  most  of  them  come  to 
see  that  the  plan  is  wise.  They  come  out  from  their 
naps  and  relaxation  with  fresh  energy  and  enthusiasm 
for  the  activities  of  camp  life.  Without  a  sufficient 
amount  of  rest,  they  will  return  to  their  homes  tired  and 
unre freshed,  and  their  mothers*  enthusiasm  for  future 
camping  parties  will  be  greatly  dampened. 


242  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

Special  Camp  Activities.  Aside  from  the  regular 
duties  of  Camp,  the  special  activities  are  also  carefully 
scheduled.  Every  day  should  give  the  girls  opportunity 
to  enjoy  the  sports  which  mean  vigorous  exercise — base- 
ball, basketball,  tennis,  games  such  as  Hare  and  Hounds, 
or  swimming.  Just  what  sports  are  selected  will,  very 
naturally,  depend  upon  the  location  of  the  camp  and 
the  special  opportunities  there.  Those  sports  are  good 
in  camp  which  cannot  be  enjoyed  at  home.  When  the 
party  is  sufficiently  large  to  be  divided  into  teams,  a 
contest  for  the  camp  championship  can  be  held.  Each 
team  is  named,  and  the  songs,  cheers,  and  "rooting" 
make  the  games  occasions  of  great  excitement. 

The  Camp  Fire  idea  of  honors  has  been  adopted  by 
many  Leaders  on  their  short  trips,  in  order  to  induce 
the  girls  to  participate  in  the  games.  Certain  credits  are 
given  for  playing  on  the  teams,  going  on  hikes,  excellence 
in  swimming  and  in  whatever  the  Leader  feels  is  worthy 
of  recognition.  At  the  close  of  the  trip,  the  Honor  Roll 
is  announced,  and  the  Camp  emblems  awarded. 

In  some  Camps,  where  there  are  teachers  qualified  for 
the  work,  the  girls  are  taught  handicraft  of  various  kinds 
— weaving,  basket-making,  carving,  and  jewelry  work. 
Girls  who  do  not  care  for  the  more  active  pursuits  find 
a  special  interest  in  classes  of  this  kind. 

Special  Nature  talks  are  given  in  many  camps.  Walks, 
organized  with  the  purpose  of  looking  at  the  birds,  the 
flowers,  or  the  trees,  are  greatly  enjoyed  by  the  campers. 
If  these  walks  are  taken  in  small  groups,  accompanied 
by  someone  who  knows  the  birds  or  the  flowers,  the  girls 
gain  much  in  actual  knowledge.  Here  they  learn  that 
what  they  have  read  in  their  Nature  books  is  a  living 


THE  CLUB  IN  THE  OUT-OF-DOORS   243 

truth.  Here  they  may  gather  and  press  the  wild  flowers, 
labeling  them  carefully  as  they  paste  them  in  their  note- 
books. Here  they  may  use  their  kodaks,  taking  pictures 
of  interesting  birds'  nests,  or  of  their  Club  members 
standing  near  a  curious  tree.  The  trip  is  just  the  time 
to  arouse  the  interest  of  the  girls  in  the  stars  and  the 
constellations.  It  is  so  natural,  when  walking  just  after 
dark,  to  look  for  the  "Big  Dipper"  and  the  "Little  Dip- 
per." A  good  map  of  the  stars  helps  the  girls  in  their 
observations  and  often  arouses  their  interest.  Many 
girls  have  loved  the  quiet  "story-telling"  hour  at  the 
close  of  the  day,  when  the  whole  camp  has  gathered 
together.  These  are  the  quieter  pursuits  which  may  be 
introduced  into  any  camping  party  and  which  it  is  all  too 
easy  to  ignore.  Yet,  when  they  are  definitely  planned, 
there  are  always  some  girls  who  love  them  best  of  all. 
"I  shall  never  forget  my  first  camp  trip,"  a  Club  or- 
ganizer once  remarked,  "I  had  with  me  a  lively  crowd 
of  girls  who  heartily  enjoyed  the  baseball  and  the  hikes 
and  the  hayrides.  We  had  established  the  idea  that  it 
showed  'good  spirit'  for  a  girl  to  enter  into  all  these 
activities  and  that  those  girls  who  did  not  were  not 
'good'  camp  girls.  There  was  one  girl  in  our  party  who 
did  not  join  in  gladly,  but  did  so  under  protest.  One 
day  when  she  refused  to  go  on  a  hayride,  the  girls  and 
I  were  agreed  that  she  did  not  appreciate  the  trip.  But 
when  we  came  to  go  home,  I  noticed  a  book  in  her  hand. 
In  it  were  pressed  ferns  of  all  kinds.  She  had  been 
collecting  them  while  the  rest  of  us  were  riding.  I 
had  sadly  misjudged  her  and  felt  that  I  had  given  her 
no  help.  The  next  year  I  was  ready  to  interest  the  girls 
in  Nature  as  well  as  athletics.  And  I  found,  to  my  sur- 


244  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

prise,  that  even  the  enthusiastic  athletes  were  more  than 
ready  to  combine  a  hike  with  a  little  Nature  study." 

The  "big"  events  of  Camp — the  hayrides,  the  athletic 
meets,  the  parties,  and  the  Camp  Fires — should  also  be 
carefully  scheduled  so  that  these  times  of  special  interest 
will  be  distributed  throughout  the  stay.  Contests  be- 
tween teams  can  be  supplemented  with  an  athletic  meet. 
In  addition  to  the  regulation  athletic  events,  such  as 
racing  and  jumping,  special  features  have  often  been 
introduced.  Carrying  an  egg  in  a  spoon,  obstacle  races, 
the  standing  broad  grin — such  events  as  these  bring 
shouts  of  glee  from  the  participants  and  the  onlookers 
as  well.  In  one  large  camp,  a  successful  meet  of  this 
kind  was  held  and  the  teams  represented  the  big  col- 
leges, Yale,  Harvard,  Princeton,  and  Cornell.  The  re- 
porters, the  officials,  the  cheer  leaders,  the  visiting 
mothers  and  sweethearts  were  all  present  and  added  to 
the  excitement  of  the  games. 

A  little  ingenuity  can  produce  special  parties  in  camp 
quite  worthy  of  the  name  of  Social  Functions.  Many 
a  "Baby  Party"  has  been  a  success,  when  the  girls  have 
come  dressed  as  small  children,  lisping  and  gleefully 
playing  children's  games.  A  "Stunt  Party"  with  each 
girl  or  group  of  girls  doing  a  "stunt"  never  fails  to  amuse. 
A  "Circus"  can  show  many  features — a  pony  (made  from 
a  blanket),  who  can  tell  the  age  of  anyone;  a  trained 
bear;  a  fancy  dancer;  a  fortune  teller;  a  speaking  doll. 
These  are  but  few  of  the  many  special  attractions 
which  girls  have  shown  at  their  camp  circuses.  Informal 
dramatics  are  popular.  The  very  fact  that  the  resources 
are  limited  makes  the  girls  use  their  own  ingenuity  in 
getting  up  their  plans.  An  interested  woman  once  offered 


THE  CLUB  IN  THE  OUT-OF-DOORS   245 

to  equip  an  elaborate  property  room  for  a  working  girls1 
camp  for  use  in  their  camp  functions.  "No,"  said  the 
wise  Camp  Director,  "don't  make  it  so  easy  for  them. 
Our  present  way  makes  them  think  for  themselves,  and 
that  is  what  we  want." 

Familiarity  with  the  surrounding  country  will  enable 
a  Leader  to  plan  special  hikes  and  rides  which  the  girls 
will  thoroughly  enjoy.  A  careful  preliminary  planning 
of  all  special  events  desired  will  bring  into  the  camping 
trip  a  maximum  number  of  pleasurable  times. 


The  Story  of  a  Typical  Camp  Day 

It  is  morning  and  all  is  quiet  in  the  camp.  The 
white  tents  stand  in  silent  rows.  Suddenly,  from  the 
dining-shack,  comes  the  sound  of  a  bell — the  rising  bell ! 
Instantly,  there  is  a  change.  The  tent  flaps  are  fastened 
down,  there  is  a  sound  of  merry  chatter,  a  song  or  two. 
Soon,  a  few  girls  come  out  from  their  tents,  dressed  in 
their  bloomers  and  their  "middy"  blouses.  Gradually, 
more  girls  appear,  to  walk  slowly  in  the  direction  of  the 
dining-shack. 

Again,  a  bell  rings — breakfast!  Many  girls  hurry 
from  their  tents,  into  the  shack,  taking  their  places  at 
the  long  tables.  All  is  silent  for  a  short  "grace,"  and 
then  the  merry  chatter  begins.  To-day  is  the  day  of 
the  baseball  game  for  the  Camp  Championship.  The 
camp  is  divided  into  "tribes,"  each  being  named  for  one 
of  the  Indian  tribes  who  formerly  lived  in  the  very 
regions  where  the  camp  is  situated.  Each  tribe  has  had 
a  team  in  the  championship  race,  and  to-day  the  two 


246  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

surviving  teams — the  Mohawk  and  the  Oneida — will 
clash. 

Breakfast  time  passes  swiftly  in  a  discussion  of  the 
coming  game.  A  young  woman  rises  to  make  the  an- 
nouncements for  the  day.  After  tent  inspection,  she 
says,  the  championship  baseball  game  will  be  played. 
The  large  roomful  of  girls  knew  this  before,  but  they 
clap  energetically  at  her  announcement.  The  later  pro- 
gram of  the  day  includes  a  hayride  and  the  Camp  Fire. 
The  girls  hear  these  last  but  dimly. 

After  the  Recreation  Director  has  finished  speaking, 
the  girls  hurry  from  the  shack  to  their  tents.  Every- 
thing is  soon  put  into  immaculate  order,  for  tent  inspec- 
tion will  be  held  in  a  short  time  and  each  girl  will  be 
rated  according  to  the  appearance  of  her  tent.  The 
glory  of  each  tribe  rests  upon  these  things  as  well  as 
upon  its  athletic  prowess.  When  all  is  in  order,  the 
girls  gather  in  groups  for  a  final  cheer  and  song  prac- 
tise. One  tribe  has  a  comb  band  which  adds  greatly 
to  their  vociferous  efforts.  Another  has  secured  some 
tin  pans.  Several  have  gay  banners.  The  scene  is  one 
of  great  excitement. 

Now  the  girls  are  marching  to  the  baseball  field,  where 
the  teams  are  already  "warming  up."  Cheer  after  cheer 
is  given,  assuring  the  players  of  the  heartfelt  interest 
on  the  sidelines.  Now  the  umpire  has  come  and  the 
command  "Play  Ball"  is  given.  The  game  is  full  of 
exciting  moments — of  slides  for  base,  of  flies  caught, 
and  other  professional  features.  Between  two  of  the 
innings,  a  party  of  clowns  amuse  the  crowd  with  a  game 
of  baseball  all  their  own.  When  at  last  the  game  is 
over,  the  team  which  most  of  the  camp  had  thought 


THE  CLUB  IN  THE  OUT-OF-DOORS   247 

would  win  has  gone  down  to  defeat.  After  some  final 
cheers,  the  girls  go  back  to  their  tents,  some  to  read,  some 
to  sew  until  lunch  time. 

At  lunch  time,  the  camp  gathers  once  more  in  the 
dining-shack.  The  losing  team  and  their  rooters  are 
absent  from  the  throng.  All  are  wondering  where  they 
can  be,  when  suddenly  from  without  comes  the  sound 
of  a  mournful  song.  The  losing  team  and  their  friends 
enter  the  shack.  All  have  tied  deep  black  bands  around 
their  heads  and  their  arms.  Their  banner  is  draped  in 
black,  and  handkerchiefs  are  much  in  evidence.  The 
song  which  they  are  singing  is  a  short  one,  written  by 
one  of  the  girls  just  before  lunch. 

"We  thought  we'd  win  that  baseball  game — boo  hool 
But  now  we  have  no  claim  to  fame — boo  hool" 

The  sad  procession  files  into  the  shack  amid  a  shout 
of  applause.  Everyone  cheers  the  losers,  and  the  losers 
cheer  the  winners,  assuring  them  that  there  are  no  "hard 
feelings!" 

"Isn't  it  splendid?"  remarks  a  visitor.  "It  means  that 
those  girls  have  learned  how  to  take  defeat." 

During  the  meal,  the  girls  have  a  veritable  song-fest, 
singing  all  the  old  songs  they  know  and  some  new  ones 
invented  on  the  spur  of  the  moment.  After  lunch,  many 
of  the  girls  pile  on  to  a  hay  wagon  for  a  long  ride,  while 
others  build  a  huge  camp  fire  on  the  top  of  a  hill.  The 
fire  is  not  yet  lighted — that  is  to  happen  this  evening. 
The  girls  on  the  hay  wagon  go  bumping  along  for  several 
miles,  singing  and  laughing.  At  last  they  reach  an  old 
Indian  trail.  Here  they  dismount,  ready  for  the  climb. 
As  they  follow  the  narrow  path  the  Leader  tells  them 


248  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

the  legend  of  the  Indian  girl  who  once  ran  on  this  path 
to  escape  an  unwelcome  lover.  She  got  away  by  climbing 
up  a  rock-and-root  ladder.  The  girls  are  interested  in 
the  story  of  the  long  ago,  and  in  the  curious  rock- forma- 
tions to  which  their  Leader  calls  their  attention. 

When  at  last  they,  too,  have  climbed  the  ladder  and 
have  come  out  into  a  large  open  field,  they  are  quite 
ready  for  their  picnic  supper.  What  fun  it  is  to  eat 
outdoors,  and  how  good  the  sandwiches  taste !  Soon 
after  supper,  they  climb  into  the  hay  wagon  once  more 
and  start  for  the  camp.  The  sun  is  rapidly  sinking  and 
they  must  get  home  for  "Camp  Fire." 

Many  songs  are  sung  on  the  homeward  trip,  and  a 
new  one  is  learned  as  a  surprise  at  the  "Camp  Fire." 
Soon  the  white  tents  are  seen  through  the  trees,  and  a 
turn  in  the  road  brings  them  into  camp.  Calls  are  heard, 
urging  them  to  "hurry  up,"  as  every  one  is  ready.  The 
wagon  comes  to  a  stop  and  the  girls  jump  off,  hurrying 
to  their  tents  for  blankets  on  which  to  sit.  Out  by  the 
huge  pile  of  wood,  the  other  girls  sit,  singing  heartily. 
The  hay- ride  girls  find  their  places  and  join  tfie  others. 

The  camp  song-leader  announces  a  song  contest. 
Each  tribe  in  camp  is  to  sing  the  familiar  camp  songs 
and  three  judges  will  award  the  honors  for  the  week. 
But  first  she  will  call  the  roll.  As  the  name  of  each 
tribe  is  called,  it  answers  with  a  singing  response.  Then 
the  contest!  The  judges  have  the  greatest  difficulty 
in  rendering  a  decision,  so  tuneful  are  the  efforts  of  each 
tribe.  The  hayride  girls  sing  their  new  song  and  the 
entire  camp  at  once  delightedly  learns  it.  Now  for  the 
"Stunts!"  One  tribe  announces  some  wonderful  me- 
chanical dolls.  The  dolls  appear  and  do  all  that  their 


THE  CLUB  IN  THE  OUT-OF-DOORS   249 

owner  has  claimed  for  them,  and  more.  A  small  but 
talented  cast  gives  a  short  melodrama,  in  alphabet  style, 
followed  by  a  Grand  Opera  soloist  whose  range,  all  agree, 
is  remarkable! 

Now  a  girl  in  Indian  costume  stands  up  by  the  fire. 
With  a  torch,  she  lights  it,  calling  in  a  musical  voice. 
As  the  flame  leaps  up,  other  Indian  girls  steal  in  to  sit 
by  the  fire.  The  girl  who  lighted  the  fire  now  turns 
toward  the  campers.  In  her  hand  she  holds  a  paper! 
The  camp  eagerly  waits  for  the  reading  of  it.  Many 
of  them  have  sent  in  contributions.  The  editor  begins: 
"Historic  Clash  on  the  Baseball  Diamond  this  morn- 
ing. Society  attends  in  large  numbers."  Not  a  word 
is  missed.  Editorials,  advertisements,  cartoons,  per- 
sonals, fashion  notes — all  are  here,  in  the  camp  paper, 
written  and  edited  by  the  girls  themselves.  The  story 
of  the  last  "Camp  Fire"  is  written  in  the  style  of 
"Hiawatha."  How  picturesque  it  seems — the  young  girl, 
in  her  Indian  suit,  standing  by  the  beautiful  fire ! 

As  she  reads,  the  fire  gradually  becomes  less  bright, 
and  the  stars  have  appeared  above.  When  the  last  word 
of  the  Camp  Echo  has  been  read,  the  Head  of  the 
camp  stands  up  by  the  fire.  In  her  hand  are  the  badges 
of  honor,  given  to  the  groups  who  have  kept  their  part 
of  camp  in  the  best  order,  and  who  have  shown  the  best 
spirit  in  their  camp  life.  There  are  badges  for  individual 
girls,  too,  who  have  gained  prowess  in  the  many  activities. 

"And  now,"  she  says,  when  she  has  completed  this 
list  of  honors,  "I  have  two  ribbons  to  give  for  the  Big 
Sister  honor.  These  go  to  the  two  girls  who  have  been 
most  thoughtful  and  considerate  of  others,  who  for  two 
weeks  have  made  us  all  happier  because  of  the  way  in 


250  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

which  they  have  lived  here  at  Camp."  She  calls  the 
names  of  the  two  girls.  They  step  out  in  front.  The 
Camp  sings  to  them  heartily.  And  the  "Big  Sisters" 
take  the  ribbons,  pinning  them  to  their  sweaters.  The 
honor  of  being  a  "Big  Sister"  is  greatly  prized  by  every- 
body. 

All  is  quiet  as  the  camp  Leader  takes  her  seat,  and 
another  young  girl  rises  by  the  side  of  the  dying  fire. 
She  has  a  Bible  in  her  hand. 

"I  shall  read  a  Psalm  this  evening,"  she  says,  "a 
Psalm  which  I  think  of  almost  every  day  here  in  camp." 
And  she  begins,  "I  will  lift  up  mine  eyes  unto  the  hills." 

As  the  campers  sit  there  upon  the  hill,  they  make  a 
picture  never  to  be  forgotten.  At  the  close  of  the  read- 
ing, they  softly  sing  a  familiar  hymn,  and  then  steal  off 
to  their  tents.  Here  the  candles  shine  for  a  few  moments ; 
then,  one  by  one,  they  go  out.  Above  them  all,  the 
"Mammy  Moon"  of  their  song  looks  down  upon  them 
all,  watching  them  and  promising  them  a  happy  to- 
morrow. 


CHAPTER  X 

THE    CLUB    IN    THE    EVERYDAY    LIFE    OF 
THE  GIRL 

THE  meeting  time  of  any  Girls'  Club,  however  active, 
is  rarely  more  than  one  or  two  hours  a  week.  What, 
then,  of  the  many  other  hours  when  the  Club  members 
are  out  among  other  influences,  some,  unfortunately,  not 
for  the  best?  How  can  a  Club  become  of  such  im- 
portance in  a  girl's  life  that  it  will  be  a  vital  factor  in 
her  everyday  problems,  that  she  will  remember  its  ideals, 
no  matter  what  she  is  doing?  The  Club  which  is  extend- 
ing a  wide  influence  of  this  kind  is  that  one  which  is 
best  fulfilling  its  purpose  of  real  helpfulness  to  its  girls. 

The  keen  interest  of  the  Club  Leader  in  all  that  the 
girls  are  doing  is  often  a  source  of  great  inspiration 
to  the  members.  They  quickly  respond  to  her  friendli- 
ness and  tell  her  of  wha<t  they  have  been  doing  at  home, 
in  school  or  business,  in  their  churches.  From  week 
to  week,  she  can  follow  them  in  these  other  interests 
and  can  inspire  them  with  her  enthusiasm  for  excellent 
attainment  of  any  kind.  Girls  will  work  to  win  a  word 
of  praise  from  a  Leader  whom  they  love. 

But  no  Leader,  however  earnest  and  eager  to  establish 
this  intimate  relationship  with  her  girls,  can  follow  them 
in  the  many  details  of  their  lives.  The  time  for  the  meet- 

251 


252  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

ing  seems  limited,  at  best.  Personal  visits  during  the  week 
cannot  often  be  made  to  include  the  entire  Club  member- 
ship. The  secret  of  bringing  the  everyday  life  of  the 
girls  into  intimate  relationship  with  their  Club  life  lies 
not  so  much  in  the  power  of  the  Leader  as  in  the  power 
of  the  girls  themselves.  Recognizing  the  value  of  their 
many  outside  activities  and  giving  these  a  place  in  the 
Club  has  accomplished  the  desired  result  for  many  a 
Leader.  Is  a  Club  member  regularly  helping  her  mother; 
with  the  home  duties?  Is  another  diligently  studying 
in  an  evening  school?  Is  one  of  the  girls  saving  part  of 
her  earnings?  These  are  excellent  habits  for  any  girl 
to  form  and  should  be  recognized  in  the  Club. 

One  way  to  recognize  them  which  has  been  widely 
used  is  to  draw  up  a  definite  plan  of  "Honors"  or 
"Merit  Points,"  awarded  to  the  girls  who  have  accom- 
plished certain  things  in  those  lines  of  activity  which 
have  been  deemed  worth  while  either  by  the  national 
organization  with  which  the  Club  is  connected  or  by 
the  Club  Leader.  The  general  divisions  may  include 
health  activities,  home  activities,  school  or  business  ac- 
tivities, civic  activities  and  whatever  other  general  heads 
a  Leader  deems  advisable.  Under  each  are  then  listed 
the  specific  things  which  a  girl  must  do  in  order  to  win 
distinction.  A  point,  or  honor,  may  be  awarded  for 
excellence  in  a  certain  definite  accomplishment.  The 
girls  then  bring  in  weekly  (or  monthly)  reports  upon 
their  activities  in  these  lines,  and  each  girl  is  put  on  her 
honor  to  make  a  fair  and  honest  report. 

If  this  plan  is  made  sufficiently  broad  to  include  all 
phases  of  a  girl's  life,  she  may  be  constantly  reminded 
of  her  Club.  The  everyday  tasks  which  confront  her 


IN  THE  EVERYDAY  LIFE  OF  THE  GIRL    253 

have  been  officially  recognized  as  worth  while  and  so 
assume  a  greater  importance  in  her  eyes. 

"This  idea  of  making  everything  a  girl  does  part  of 
her  Club  work  is  certainly  a  good  thing!"  said  a  mother 
of  two  young  girls.  "Before  my  daughters  joined,  it 
was  most  difficult  to  get  them  to  take  the  baby  out.  Now 
both  of  them  wish  to  do  it  every  time,  because  it  counts 
as  an  Honor  in  their  Club !" 


Relating  the  Club  to  the  Home  Life  of  the  Girl 

A  complete  program  of  this  kind  is  mapped  out  in 
the  Camp  Fire  Manual.  First  among  the  honors  to  be 
awarded  in  this  organization  are  those  under  "Home 
Craft."  The  Club  which  inspires  in  the  girls  an  en- 
thusiasm for  the  simple  tasks  of  the  home,  which  arouses 
in  its  members  a  desire  to  do  these  tasks  well,  has  been 
of  real  service,  for  the  girls  are  the  future  home-makers 
and  mothers  of  the  nation. 

So  it  is  that  the  "Home  Craft"  honors  are  many  and 
of  great  variety.  What  girl  will  not  benefit  from  such 
activities  as  the  following  which  have  been  selected  at 
random  from  the  general  plan  of  the  Camp  Fire? 

Make  two  kinds  of  bread  and  two  kinds  of  cake. 
Cook  meat  in  four  ways:  roast,  broil,  fricassee, 

boil. 

Cook  left-over  meats  in  four  ways. 
Cook  each  of  three  common  vegetables  in  three 

ways. 
Prepare  a  balanced  menu  and  superintend  the 

cooking  for  one  month  in  the  home. 
Pick,  dress,  and  cook  a  fowl. 


254  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

Describe  their  characteristics,  identify,  and  select 
six  chief  cuts  of  meat ;  also  know  the  market 
price  of  each. 

Market  for  one  week  on  two  dollars  and  a  half 
per  person,  keeping  accounts  and  records  of 
menus,  etc. 

Help  with  four  family  washings;  this  to  include 
the  complete  process. 

Press  a  suit  or  a  skirt  and  coat. 

Remove  three  common  stains  from  washable 
material,  and  two  spots  from  non-washable 
material. 

Take  the  entire  care  of  one  room  for  one  month ; 
this  to  include  sweeping,  dusting,  washing 
windows,  care  of  flowers  or  of  plants,  and 
whatever  may  be  desirable  for  the  attractive- 
ness of  the  room. 

Build  a  furnace  fire  and  care  for  it  for  two  days. 

Know  how  milk  should  be  prepared  for  a  six- 
months-old  baby;  know  what  is  good  milk, 
and  how  it  can  be  tested  for  a  baby  one  year 
old. 

The  Club  Leader  who  is  drawing  up  her  own  system 
of  honor  points  will  find  that  an  intimate  knowledge 
of  her  girls'  home  life  will  enable  her  to  fit  it  to  their 
special  needs  and  to  relate  her  guidance  directly  to  the 
problems  which  they  are  meeting  every  day. 

Relating  the  Club  to  the  Health  Habits  of  the  Girl 

The  active  part  which  the  girls  take  in  the  drill  or  the 
games  of  the  Club  is,  after  all,  but  a  first  step.  Good 


IN  THE  EVERYDAY  LIFE  OF  THE  GIRL    255 

habits  of  health  must  be  formed  by  steady,  daily  efforts. 
Cleanliness,  plenty  of  exercise,  erect  posture,  and  a 
sufficient  amount  of  sleep  are  all  points  which  should 
be  included  and  constantly  emphasized  in  any  plan  for 
broad  Club  activity. 

Certain  health  activities  have  been  listed  as  "required" 
in  plans  for  Honors.  Every  girl  who  wishes  to  win 
honors  in  Health  must  carry  out  these  required  activities. 
Additional  or  elective  honors  may  be  won  through  ex- 
cellence in  special  lines.  This  latter  field  is  extensive  and 
can  be  made  to  include  many  forms  of  athletic  activity. 
In  the  "required  Honors"  certain  points  have  been 
customarily  included  in  Club  plans. 

1.  Ability  to  assume  and  to  hold  a  good  posture 

of  the  body. 

2.  Good  habitual  posture. 

3.  Sleeping  with  open  windows. 

4.  Averaging  eight  hours  of  sleep  per  night. 

5.  Drinking  a  certain  number  of  glasses  of  water 

per  day,  aside  from  those  taken  at  meal  time. 

6.  Certain  number  of  baths  per  week. 

7.  Regular  brushing  of  the  teeth. 

8.  Daily  evacuation  of  the  bowels. 

Many  girls  may  have  already  formed  these  habits 
through  their  careful  home  training.  With  others,  how- 
ever, the  Club's  emphasis  upon  their  health  habits  may 
be  the  only  channel  through  which  they  receive  the  im- 
portant instruction.  In  either  case,  too  much  stress  can- 
not be  laid  upon  the  importance  of  keeping  in  good  health. 

By  careful  observation  a  Leader  can  often  detect  a 
physical  weakness  which  should  be  remedied;  if  she  can 
arrange  to  have  it  corrected,  the  girl  will  be  profoundly 


256  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

grateful.  In  a  certain  Girls'  Club,  the  Leader  noticed 
that  one  of  the  girls  was  very  slow  in  the  hand  work, 
and  spoke  about  it.  "I  can't  do  it  fast,"  answered  the 
girl.  "It  dances."  Further  questioning  brought  out  the 
fact  that  "a  long  time  ago  a  doctor  said  I  should  wear 
glasses,  but  I  never  bothered."  The  Leader  at  once 
"bothered."  The  girl  was  taken  for  an  eye  examination 
and  the  necessary  glasses  were  given  to  her.  Life  at 
once  became  easier — a  handicap  had  been  removed.  Such 
a  service  is  indeed  a  relating  of  the  Club  to  the  health 
of  the  girl  in  a  vital  way. 

Relating  the  Club  to  the  School  and  Study  Life  of 
the  Girl 

In  a  Club  whose  members  are  school  girls,  the  im- 
portance of  school  life  can  be  recognized  in  the  Honor 
plan.  Regularity  of  attendance,  punctuality,  excellence 
in  work  and  in  effort,  happy  friendships  with  school- 
mates, are  important  in  the  life  of  the  school  girl.  Active 
cooperation  with  the  teacher  will  help  in  this  work,  but 
when  this  is  impossible,  the  girls'  reports  may  be  a  basis 
for  rating.  The  fact  that  a  Girls'  Club  Leader  officially 
recognizes  the  school  work  will  help  the  school  teacher 
in  her  efforts.  Friendly  discussion  between  teacher  and 
Leader  may  bring  to  both  an  understanding  of  each 
other's  aims.  This  active  cooperation  has  been  achieved 
through  simple  plans  such  as  the  teacher's  assigning  to 
the  girl  the  task  of  writing  an  essay  on  "My  Club." 

Many  girls  who  have  left  the  public  day  schools  are 
continuing  their  study  in  evening  schools.  Such  ambi- 
tion is  surely  worthy  of  recognition  in  their  Clubs.  Here, 


IN  THE  EVERYDAY  LIFE  OF  THE  GIRL    257 

^ 

again,  regularity  in  attendance,  punctuality,  earnestness 
of  effort,  excellence  of  marks  and  cooperation  with 
classmates  are  of  importance. 

If  her  Club  is  making  no  definite  effort  along  the  line 
of  literary  study,  the  books  which  a  girl  herself  selects 
may  also  form  a  basis  for  honors,  provided  they  are 
approved  by  the  Leader.  The  Leader  who  refuses  to 
credit  the  reading  of  a  certain  book  and  who  carefully 
gives  her  reasons  is  laying  the  foundation  for  literary 
discrimination  among  her  girls. 

Any  way  in  which  a  Club  girl  is  working  to  extend 
her  own  knowledge  should  be  recognized,  and  credit 
given  accordingly.  The  ambitious  girl  should  receive 
every  help  in  her  Club. 

Relating  the  Club  to  the  Business  Life  of  the  Girl 

A  Club  Leader  who  has  in  her  group  girls  who  have 
entered  the  business  world  or  who  intend  doing  so  has 
a  big  opportunity  for  helping  them.  In  order  to  relate 
the  life  of  the  Club  to  their  business  life,  she  should 
know  the  nature  of  their  work  and  the  requirements 
for  success  in  their  field,  as  well  as  those  general  re- 
quirements for  success  which  hold  in  almost  any  occu- 
pation. Emphasis  on  these  general  requirements  can 
be  included  in  any  Club's  program.  A  business-like  ap- 
pearance, regularity,  punctuality,  a  spirit  of  loyalty,  thrift 
—these  are  the  things  which  contribute  to  any  girl's 
business  success. 

The  girl's  regularity  in  her  work  is  a  tangible  thing 
upon  which  she  may  make  a  definite  report.  Punctuality 
is  another.  In  a  Club  where  the  members  report  upon 


258  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

their  dress,  the  business  suit  may  be  worn  to  the  Club 
meeting.  One  Leader  laughingly  instituted  an  "inspec- 
tion" at  the  beginning  of  the  meeting.  She  told  her  Club 
of  the  plan  used  in  many  boarding  schools,  where  the 
girls  undergo  such  inspection  each  morning  and  before 
each  large  social  function.  The  members  became  inter- 
ested in  this  idea  and  at  once  introduced  it  into  the  Club. 
Through  it,  the  Leader  was  able  to  tactfully  correct  many 
faults  of  the  girls'  dress,  especially  that  of  too  high  heels. 

Thrift.  The  encouragement  of  thrift  among  wage- 
earning  girls  is  very  important.  In  the  case  of  many,  their 
wages  are  the  first  money  they  have  ever  earned.  No 
previous  experience  has  given  them  a  definite  apprecia- 
tion of  the  value  of  money,  and  their  new  spirit  of 
independence  may  lead  them  to  extravagance.  The  idea 
of  planning  a  budget,  or  of  regularly  putting  aside  a 
certain  sum,  has  never  occurred  to  them. 

For  years,  many  special  agencies  have  been  interested 
in  the  encouragement  of  thrift.  Since  the  outbreak  of 
the  war,  the  patriotic  appeal  has  been  used  to  interest 
everyone  in  saving.  The  Vacation  Association  of  New 
York  City  has  encouraged  girls  to  save  by  the  simple 
plan  of  buying  stamps,  to  be  pasted  in  their  savings 
books.  These  stamps  are  of  small  denominations,  and 
through  their  use  the  girls  who  have  joined  in  the  plan 
have  come  to  see  that  it  is  possible  for  them  to  save. 
Gradually,  the  "Save  for  Vacation"  idea  has  enlarged 
until  the  members  of  this  association  are  saving  for  many 
and  varied  purposes;  but  the  vacation  idea  has  still  a 
strong  appeal.  A  girl  may  remember  that  the  previous 
summer,  when  she  wished  to  take  a  certain  vacation 
trip,  she  did  not  have  the  necessary  money,  and  she  will 


IN  THE  EVERYDAY  LIFE  OF  THE  GIRL  259 

respond  to  a  suggestion  that  she  save  for  the  coming 
summer.  Once  she  has  formed  the  saving  habit,  the 
next  step  is  to  interest  her  in  the  idea  of  having  a 
permanent  bank  account. 

"This  plan  of  saving  a  little  every  week  is  great," 
remarked  a  Club  girl  who  had  come  to  draw  her  Vaca- 
tion Association  money,  just  before  vacation.  "I  laughed 
at  the  idea  at  first.  I  didn't  see  where  I  was  extravagant. 
I  thought  I  needed  every  cent  I  earn.  But  now  I  have 
enough  to  take  my  mother  away  with  me — and  all  be- 
cause I  saved  the  pennies  every  week." 

Closely  associated  with  the  vacation  saving  idea  is 
the  "Spug"  movement.  The  S.  P.  U.  G.— Society  for  the 
Promotion  of  Useful  Giving — was  organized  to  "attack 
the  exchange  system  which  has  degenerated  into  an  abuse 
of  Christmas,  and  has  drifted  to  the  level  of  the  common' 
'swap/  utterly  devoid  of  the  faintest  trace  of  sentiment 
of  the  meaning.  The  Spugs  attack  the  collective  Christ- 
mas giving  which  is  current,  customary  and,  therefore, 
almost  compulsory,  and  which  results  in  unfair  taxa- 
tion." 

The  spread  of  this  idea,  and  the  encouragement  of  it 
by  Club  Leaders,  has  resulted  in  freeing  many  girls 
from  the  burden  of  too-great  Christmas  giving.  They 
have  been  taught  that  the  real  Christmas  spirit  does  not 
mean  assuming  obligations  which  will  put  them  in  debt 
for  months  to  come. 

The  National  Education  Association  Thrift  movement, 
the  Postal  Savings  Banks,  the  many  Building  and  Loan 
Association  plans,  insurance  policies,  and  Christmas  Sav- 
ing Clubs  have  all  been  means  by  which  Club  girls  have 
been  encouraged  to  save.  Since  the  outbreak  of  the  war, 


260  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

many  Leaders  have  found  the  War  Thrift  Stamps  of 
great  value  in  their  Club  life.  The  patriotic  appeal  of 
this  plan  has  aroused  the  interest  of  the  girls — their 
patriotism  has  led  them  to  form  a  habit  which  will  be 
valuable  to  them  throughout  their  lives. 

In  this  work  the  club  may  exert  a  strong  influence 
in  many  ways.  The  plan  adopted  for  awarding  Honors 
may  include  some  for  thrift.  The  girl  who  saves  regu- 
larly may  report  that  fact  for  inclusion  in  the  Club 
records — the  girl  who  keeps  an  expense  account  may 
report  that — the  one  who  makes  out  a  careful  budget 
at  the  beginning  of  the  year  can  mention  it  in  her  report. 
Due  credit  should  be  given  to  all  these  girls  who  are 
taking  an  active  part  in  the  personal  thrift  plans  of  the 
Club. 

Methods  of  interesting  the  members  in  thrift  have 
varied.  One  Leader  conducted  a  series  of  discussions 
on  the  budget  plan.  The  Club  took  the  average  earnings 
of  its  members  as  a  basis  for  its  discussion,  and  upon 
that  worked  out,  in  Club  meeting,  the  amounts  which 
the  average  girl  should  spend  upon: 

%  Living  expenses. 
Postage,  telephone  and  carfare. 
Clothing  and  laundry. 
Health. 

Recreation  and  vacation. 
Education. 
Gifts. 

Benevolence. 
Insurance  and  Investments. 

The  discussions  were  lively,  particularly  the  one  upon 


IN  THE  EVERYDAY  LIFE  OP  THE  GIRL  261 

clothing !  The  result  of  these  meetings  was,  however,  to 
interest  the  girls  in  the  idea  of  keeping  personal  expense 
accounts  in  order  to  discover  what  they  were  actually 
spending.  The  personal  account  book  used  in  this  Club 
was  that  issued  by  the  Women's  Press.  (See  pages  262, 
263.)  Upon  its  cover  are  found  the  following  questions, 
calculated  to  make  any  wage-earning  girl  pause  and 
think : 

How  much  have  I  earned,  all  told,  in  my  life? 

How  much  could  I  have  saved  if  I  had  wanted  to? 

How  much  do  I  possess  free  and  clear  now? 

How  much  of  the  difference  between  earnings 
and  present  possessions  has  been  frittered 
away? 

What  am  I  going  to  do  from  this  time  on  to 
secure  my  living  expenses  in  sickness  and  in 
old  age? 

Five  cents  put  aside  every  day  will  amount  to 
$182.50  in  ten  years.  Placed  in  a  Savings 
Bank  that  pays  four  per  cent,  interest,  it 
will  earn  $40.06.  Thus  the  total  sum  repre- 
sented at  the  end  of  ten  years  by  the  simple 
saving  of  five  cents  a  day  is  $222.56. 

The  National  Education  Association  has  prepared  a 
monograph  on  "Thrift"  in  which  many  plans  are  out- 
lined by  which  the  idea  may  be  taught  to  young  people. 
In  these  plans,  the  important  point  is  emphasized  that 
true  thrift  is  a  matter  not  only  of  saving  money,  but 
also  of  care  in  the  use  of  all  materials  which  are  theirs 
or  which  they  use.  Mr.  T.  W.  DeHaven,  Director, 
Commercial  Department,  High  School,  Haughton,  Michi- 


262 


GIRLS'  CLUBS 


Received 


Date 


ITEMS 


Paid  Out 


Living 
Expenses 


Postage, 

Phones, 

Cars 


Clothing, 
Laundry 


Forward 


A   Page    from  the   "  Personal  Account 


gan,  contributed  to  this  monograph  an  outline  for  the 
teaching  of  thrift,  of  which  the  following  is  a  portion. 
It  is  suggestive  for  the  Leader  who  wishes  to  conduct 
a  series  of  talks  or  discussions  upon  this  important 
subject. 

I.  The  nature  of  thrift. 

a.  Postponed  consumption  not  hoarding. 

b.  A  duty. 

c.  Educational  rather  than  economic. 


IN  THE  EVERYDAY  LIFE  OF  THE  GIRL    263 


Health 


Recreation, 
Vacation 


Education 


Gifts 


Benev- 
olence 


Insurance 
Invest- 
ments 


Book,"  Women's  Press,  New  York  City. 

2.  Why  we  should  save. 

a.  Waste  is  sin. 

b.  Provide  for  old  age. 

c.  Strengthen  character. 

d.  Promote  health. 

e.  Be  able  to  take  advantage  of  opportunity. 
/.  Be  a  better  citizen. 

3.  How  to  save. 

a.  Income  more  than  sufficient  to  provide  for  necessities. 

b.  Have  some  definite  plan. 

I.  A  stated  sum  weekly  or  monthly. 


264  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

2.  All  the  coins  bearing  a  certain  date. 

3.  All  pennies,  nickels,  or  dimes. 

4.  Put  aside  a  stated  amount  on  the  child's  birthday. 

c.  Apportion  income  by  parts. 

d.  Deposit  funds. 

e.  Invest  savings. 

1.  Bonds. 

2.  Real  Estate. 

3.  Building  and  Loan  stock. 
4.  Savings  Institutions. 

a.  Insurance. 

b.  Building  and  Loan  Associations. 

c.  Savings  banks. 

d.  Postal  savings  banks. 

e.  School  savings  banks. 

Once  the  interest  of  the  Club  has  been  aroused,  a 
Leader  may  keep  the  subject  before  her  girls  by  estab- 
lishing in  the  Club  the  means  by  which  they  may  save. 
She  herself  may  sell  the  stamps  for  their  stamp  books, 
or  receive  and  record  the  deposits  which  they  wish  to 
make  through  any  other  agent.  This  enables  her  to 
keep  in  constant  touch  with  her  girls'  personal  saving 
habits  and  to  influence  those  girls  who  have  started  en- 
thusiastically but  who  soon  succumb  to  the  lure  of  the 
motion  pictures.  Such  a  plan,  too,  often  gives  the  Leader 
a  valuable  insight  into  the  problems  before  the  girls. 

One  Leader  who,  in  her  Club,  has  sold  the  stamps  for 
the  Vacation  Association,  says  that  through  this  means 
she  has  often  been  able  to  help  the  members  in  times  of 
financial  stress.  A  girl  may  hesitatingly  approach  her, 
asking  that  she  be  allowed  to  draw  out  her  account.  The 
Leader  talks  with  her.  Little  by  little,  the  story  comes 
out:  The  father  is  out  of  work;  the  mother  is  sick; 
they  must  have  the  money  for  food.  The  Club  Leader 


IN  THE  EVERYDAY  LIFE  OF  THE  GIRL    265 

listens,  and  then  suggests  that  the  girl  leave  her  bank 
account  intact,  borrowing  the  necessary  money  from  the 
"benefit"  fund  which  the  Club  maintains  for  its  mem- 
bers ;  this  the  girl  does.  Thus  the  Leader  has  been  given 
the  opportunity  of  helping  one  of  her  girls  at  a  time 
of  real  need.  In  such  ways  as  this,  the  Club  personal 
savings  plan  may  help  the  Leader  in  her  work,  as  well 
as  benefit  the  girls  themselves. 

"Honors"  for  the  Girl  Who  Does  Her  Work  Well 

The  matter  of  a  girl's  success  in  business  extends 
beyond  her  personal  thrift  to  a  question  of  excellence 
in  her  chosen  work.  Not  every  Club  Leader  can  judge 
of  this  excellence.  She  does  not  come  into  direct  con- 
tact with  her  girls'  employers.  The  girls'  own  estimates 
of  their  ability  are  not  to  be  relied  upon.  But  the 
Leader  of  a  Club  organized  within  a  business  house 
has  every  opportunity  to  correlate  the  activities  of  a 
member  with  the  work  of  her  department.  In  the  course 
of  the  Club  meetings,  she  will  have  many  opportunities 
to  emphasize  the  necessity  for  doing  one's  work  well 
and  of  interesting  the  girls  in  the  importance  of  what 
they  are  doing.  A  "job"  may  be  "only  a  job"  to  them. 
That  it  has  a  distinct  place  in  a  larger  scheme  of  things 
has  never  occurred  to  them.  The  employer  may  be  too 
occupied  to  give  them  a  glimpse  of  this  vision,  but  to 
the  Club  Leader  the  opportunity  is  evident.  The  em- 
ployer will  appreciate  such  cooperation  and  the  Club' 
will  be  the  stronger  because  of  his  backing. 

A  Leader  in  a  large  store  worked  out  a  plan  for  such 
active  cooperation  in  the  awarding  of  Club  Honors.  No 


266  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

girl  was  eligible  for  Honors  in  this  store  Club  who  was 
not  regular  and  punctual  in  her  attendance  upon  her 
work.  No  girl  was  eligible  for  Honors  who  did  not 
reach  a  certain  grade  of  excellence  in  her  store  work. 
The  general  points  considered  by  the  store  executives  in 
their  estimates  were: 

Excellence  in  work. 

Spirit  in  her  work,  including 

Willingness  to  carry  out  commands  and  rules 

of  the  store. 
Loyalty. 

Interest  in  work. 
Cooperation  with  fellow-workers. 

When  the  Honors  for  the  year  were  awarded,  the 
department  chiefs  were  present,  and  the  fact  was  em- 
phasized that  it  was  just  as  important  to  do  well  in 
store  work  as  in  Club  work. 

The  Club  Honor  points  included,  among  others: 

Attendance. 

Securing  a  new  member. 

Giving  suggestion  that  could  be  used. 

Extra  points  were  given  for  special  service  to  the 
Club.  In  this  way,  the  Club  life  became  a  part  of  the 
hours  spent  at  work  as  well  as  those  spent  in  leisure. 

A  Leader  who  is  making  a  definite  effort  to  relate 
the  life  of  the  Club  to  that  of  the  girl's  business  world 
will  soon  meet  with  the  necessity  for  extending  her  own 
information.  A  discussion  of  advancement  in  the  busi- 
ness world  may  reveal  the  fact  that  one  of  the  girls  is 
most  unhappy  in  her  work:  she  wishes  to  change:  what 


IN  THE  EVERYDAY  LIFE  OF  THE  GIRL    267 

does  the  Leader  advise?  A  first  step  is  to  analyze  the 
cause  of  the  unhappiness.  It  may  prove  to  be  but  one 
of  the  temporary  upheavals  which  come  to  all  businesses 
and  to  all  homes  and  is,  in  reality,  but  a  passing  per- 
sonal discontent.  On  the  other  hand,  the  discontent  may 
be  caused  by  the  vital,  fundamental  fact  that  the  girl  is 
not  fitted  for  the  work  which  she  is  doing  and  she  has 
turned  to  the  Leader  for  help.  In  such  a  case,  that 
Leader  can  best  help  who  knows  what  lines  of  work  are 
open  to  her  girls;  the  requirements  for  excellence  and 
the  opportunities  for  advancement.  There  may  be 
ample  opportunity  for  a  use  of  the  girl's  particular 
talents  in  the  very  business  organization  where  she  is 
engaged,  but  is  now  discontented.  This  should  be  con- 
sidered. Advice  which  involves  a  change  in  occupation 
should  be  carefully  given.  But  in  all  cases  the  Leader 
of  a  Club  of  wage-earning  girls  should  stand  ready  to 
give  wise  help.  The  following  circular  was  prepared  by 
a  Club  to  interest  not  only  its  own  members  but  other 
girls  in  the  problem  of  their  advancement: 

Are  You  the  Girl 

who,  because  of  financial  pressure  at  home,  has  been  forced 
into  industry  without  a  chance  to  decide  for  yourself  or  to 
have  anyone  help  you  decide  what  your  special  abilities  are, 
what  kind  of  work  you  are  best  suited  for,  or  which  trade  will 
give  you  the  best  chance  for  advancement? 

Were  you  compelled  to  begin  work  which  kept  you  at  a  dead 
level,  or  work  which  you  have  since  found  is  entirely  unsuited 
to  you?  Or  have  you  grown  beyond  your  work,  and  would 
you  like  to  know  where  and  how  you  can  get  your  training  for 
the  kind  of  work  you  long  for? 

If  so,  do  not  give  up  the  job  you  now  have,  but  come  to 


268  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

the  Protective  League  Club  any  Thursday  evening  and  find 
out  what  some  of  the  opportunities  in  the  various  trades  are 
and  where  you  can  secure  training  if  you  want  advancement. 
You  can  learn  of  an  evening  school  where  you  can  take  a 
supplementary  course  for  trade  or  clerical  training.  If  you 
do  not  know  exactly  what  you  do  want,  you  can  come  and  talk 
over  the  situation.  Something  may  suggest  itself  to  you  while 
we  are  talking  of  the  possibilities. 

In  many  of  our  cities  and  towns,  a  Club  Leader  may 
turn  for  help  to  those  employment  agencies  which  are 
being  maintained  by  interested  organizations  and  whose 
broad  aim  is  to  place  the  girl  for  her  own  best  develop- 
ment, rather  than  simply  to  find  her  a  "job."  Help  is 
also  to  be  found  by  consulting  employers  and  learning 
directly  from  them  what  the  requirements  are  which 
must  be  met  by  a  girl  in  order  to  be  successful  in  their 
fields  of  work.  The  National  Society  for  the  Promotion 
of  Industrial  Education  stands  ready  to  help  Club  Leaders 
who  are  interested  in  this  problem. 

The  Civic  and  Religious  Life  of  the  Girl 

Wherever  a  Club  girl  takes  an  active  part  in  civic  or 
religious  movements  in  the  community,  recognition  of 
her  services  may  be  given  in  the  Club's  Honor  plan.  The 
girl  may  help  in  a  pageant  in  her  own  neighborhood. 
She  may  serve  on  a  Civic  Committee.  She  may  be  the 
teacher  of  a  Sunday-School  class  or  the  Chairman  of 
a  Social  Committee  in  her  Church.  It  may  be  that  her 
Club  work  has  stimulated  this  extended  interest.  Recog- 
nition from  the  Club,  attesting  the  value  of  her  services, 
will  mean  further  inspiration  and  encouragement. 


IN  THE  EVERYDAY  LIFE  OF  THE  GIRL    269 

The  deep  religious  impulses  of  the  girl  are  natural. 
The  religious  influence  is  the  strongest  in  the  life  of 
many  a  girl.  A  Club  which  recognizes  this  may  raise 
itself  in  its  girls'  esteem.  The  Leader  may  help  to  meet 
the  religious  impulses  in  her  girls  by  her  reverent  re- 
marks during  their  Nature  Study,  or  at  any  other  time 
when  allusion  to  the  subject  comes  naturally. 

Making  the  "Honor"  Plan  Definite 

When  a  Leader  wishes  to  harmonize  the  work  of  her 
Club  with  the  everyday  life  of  her  girls  so  that  there 
may  be  active  coordination  between  them,  a  definite  plan 
of  action  should  be  made.  Weekly  reports  from  the  girls 
keep  the  interest  alive.  The  members  themselves  will 
bring  in  the  reports  if  the  whole  plan  has  been  carefully 
outlined.  Girls  enjoy  working  for  a  definite  objective. 

If  the  group  is  not  connected  with  a  large  girls'  organ- 
ization which  has  already  worked  out  some  such  plan, 
the  Leader  may  adapt  the  Honor  method  to  her  own 
special  situation.  The  girls  themselves  may  discuss  the 
ideas,  giving  their  own  suggestions.  The  general  lines 
of  everyday  activity  chosen  must  be  subdivided  into  very 
definite  things  to  be  done.  "Sleeping  with  open  win- 
dows" is  a  definite  task  which  any  girl  can  carry  out. 
"Be  careful  in  your  health  habits"  is  a  good  general 
suggestion  with  little  value  to  the  girl  who  has  not 
studied  what  those  habits  are.  These  definite  tasks  which 
go  into  the  plan  should  also  be  carefully  graded.  The 
more  difficult  tasks  should  be  rated  higher  than  those 
which  are  comparatively  easy  of  accomplishment.  The 
high  standard  in  activity  should  be  attained  through 


270  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

activity  in  several  general  lines.  This  makes  for  all- 
round  development  in  the  girl.  Honors  easily  won  are 
lightly  valued.  The  purpose  of  such  a  plan  is  to  stimu- 
late the  girls  to  more  extensive  activity  along  useful 
lines. 

The  record  of  the  girls'  attainments  should  be  care- 
fully kept,  and  as  simply  as  possible.  In  some  Clubs 
this  has  been  done  by  means  of  a  book,  with  a  page  de- 
voted to  the  activities  of  each  girl.  In  others  a  card 
catalog  system  has  been  used,  the  activities  of  each  girl 
being  entered  upon  her  card. 

If  the  reports  of  work  done  are  given  a  prominent 
part  in  the  Club  meeting,  the  matter  of  everyday  Club 
activity  is  constantly  before  the  girls.  A  good  report 
from  one  of  the  members  acts  as  a  stimulus  to  the  others. 
Such  reports  also  bring  the  members  into  close  touch  with 
one  another,  and  show  an  earnest  striving  for  an  ideal 
in  ways  which  all  may  use. 

The  Club  Every  Day 

This  plan  for  making  the  Club  a  matter  of  vital, 
everyday  importance  to  the  girls  is  used  to-day  by  many 
Leaders  to  send  the  influence  of  their  Clubs  out  to  the 
girl  standing  by  her  machine  in  her  factory,  to  the  girl 
helping  her  mother  at  home,  to  the  girl  sitting  at  her 
school  desk.  In  such  Clubs,  the  Club  life  is  not  con- 
tained within  the  one  or  two  hours  a  week  of  the  meet- 
ing. The  activities  have  become  related  vitally  to  the 
life  of  the  girl.  And  the  life  of  its  members  is,  indeed, 
the  life  of  the  Club. 


CHAPTER  XI 
LITTLE  THINGS  THAT  COUNT 

A  CLUB  may  be  ever  so  well  organized  and  may  have 
ever  so  good  a  plan  for  its  work,  and  still  be  unsuccess- 
ful. The  Leader  is  at  a  loss  to  account  for  its  failure, 
not  realizing  that  in  the  little,  everyday  happenings  of 
Club  life  she  is  heedless.  "It's  the  Little  Things  that 
count!"  And  so  this  is  a  chapter  of  little  things  which 
are  important  in  a  Club.  Many  of  them  play  a  part  in 
every  Club  meeting,  no  matter  what  the  activity  or  who 
the  girls  in  the  Club.  They  have  been  gathered  from  the 
experience  of  many  Leaders  in  many  kinds  of  Clubs, 
and  yet  are  applicable  to  all. 

Start  on  a  Moderate  Scale.  The  new  Leader  is  likely 
— in  her  enthusiasm — to  see  no  limits  to  the  work  which 
her  Cliib  will  be  able  to  do.  Perhaps  the  first  lesson 
which  she  learns  is  that  planning  on  paper,  and  carrying 
plans  out,  are  two  vastly  different  processes.  It  is  so 
easy  to  make  attractive  plans,  without  thinking  of  such 
practical  everyday  considerations  as  the  time  which  can 
be  used  in  Club  work,  the  money  which  will  be  neces- 
sary, or  the  facilities  which  play  a  large  part  in  putting 
the  idea  into  effect.  And  it  is  so  difficult,  once  an 
elaborate  plan  has  been  launched  and  these  practical  con- 
siderations suddenly  loom  large  as  insurmountable  ob- 

271 


272  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

stacles — it  is  so  difficult,  then,  to  drop  the  plan  and  to 
interest  the  girls  in  something  else.  The  'plan  which 
they  must  now  drop  is  the  only  one  they  want,  and 
nothing  the  Leader  can  suggest  seems  to  take  its  place. 

"If  it  is  a  good  thing,  it  will  grow" — this  statement 
was  made  by  a  Leader  whose  avowed  policy  was  to 
start  her  Club  work  on  a  scale  which  she  knew  she  could 
carry  out.  As  the  work  developed,  she  was  able  to 
expand  the  plan  wherever  it  was  necessary.  Another 
Leader  has  said  that  there  is  nothing  so  valuable  in  a 
Leader  as  enthusiasm,  provided  she  "keeps  both  feet  on 
the  ground."  Those  who  have  acted  as  organizers  or 
directors  of  several  Clubs  know  that  this  lesson  is  a 
most  important  one  to  impress  upon  young  workers. 
Entertainments,  cotillions,  parties,  picnics — all  are  en- 
thusiastically proposed  and  as  enthusiastically  received. 
The  chilling  effect  of  the  disappointment  when  the  plans 
fail  is  afterward  most  disheartening  to  the  Club  girls 
as  well  as  to  the  Leader.  Propose  only  those  plans  which 
you  have  every  reason  to  believe  you  can  carry  out. 

Finish  What  You  Start.  Whatever  is  once  undertaken 
by  a  Club  should  be  finished,  if  that  is  at  all  possible, 
and  finished  well.  "Whatever  is  worth  doing  at  all  is 
worth  doing  well" — this  lesson  cannot  be  too  often  im- 
pressed upon  young  girls.  The  spirit  of  trying  some- 
thing else  when  difficulties  appear  is  what  has  led  many 
girls  to  leave  school  even  though  their  families  were  able 
to  continue  their  education.  It  is  the  spirit  which  takes 
girls  from  one  position  to  another,  in  an  ambitionless 
search  for  an  "easy  job."  A  Club  cannot  stand  for  a 
better  principle  than  the  thorough  completion  of  what- 
ever is  undertaken. 


II 


LITTLE  THINGS  THAT  COUNT  273 

It  is  in  recognizing  the  necessity  of  this  principle 
that  the  Leader  comes  to  see  special  wisdom  in  a  modera- 
tion of  plans.  By  undertaking  too  elaborate  schemes, 
she  places  difficulties  in  her  own  path.  For  giving  up 
a  plan  once  started  should  be  used  only  as  a  last  resort. 
The  Leader  who  carefully  takes  everything  into  con- 
sideration before  launching  a  project  is  probably  one 
who  has  gone  through  the  trials  and  tribulations  of 
carrying  out  some  elaborate  plan  which  her  Club  should 
never  have  undertaken. 

Keep  Constantly  at  It.  At  the  first  meetings  of  a 
new  Club  enthusiasm  will  run  high.  When  the  members 
come  together  in  the  Autumn,  after  a  Summer's  rest, 
their  numbers  are  large  and  the  Club  seems  flourishing. 
But  the  test  of  the  Club  work  will  come  in  time,  when 
the  first  novelty  has  worn  away.  No  work  among  girls 
is  ever  automatically  successful.  The  Leaders  of  Clubs 
of  years1  standing  will  say  that  personal  work  and  the 
constant  influx  of  fresh  interests  are  necessary  for  con- 
tinued growth.  It  is  discouraging  when  the  Club  mem- 
bers become  irregular  in  their  attendance.  The  Leader 
must  then  exert  every  effort  to  discover  the  reason  for 
the  absence.  Has  the  work  ceased  to  interest  the  girl? 
Or  do  other  reasons  prevent?  If  so,  can  the  trouble 
be  remedied?  Questioning  the  girl  herself  may,  or  may 
not,  bring  out  the  real  cause.  She  may  not  wish  to  tell 
the  Leader  that  she  thinks  her  own  clothes  aren't  so 
good  as  those  of  the  other  girls ;  or  that  she  doesn't  care 
for  the  activities  of  the  Club ;  or  that  she  has  a  personal 
grievance  against  some  of  the  members  and  no  longer 
cares  for  their  society.  Such  information  is  often  more 
easily  obtained  through  conversation  with  her  friends — 


274  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

other  Club  members.  Once  the  Leader  has  probed  to 
the  real  cause  of  the  trouble,  she  can  deal  intelligently 
with  the  problem.  If  the  girl's  mother  has  objected  to 
the  Club,  a  call  at  the  girl's  home  and  a  talk  about  her 
may  change  her  mother's  attitude.  If  the  girl  has  found 
a  new  intimate  friend  who  does  not  belong  to  the  Club, 
the  Leader  may  be  able  to  bring  in  the  friend  as  well 
as  the  girl.  A  friendly  talk  with  the  girl  herself  will 
often  clear  away  misunderstandings  and  reawaken  her 
interest.  If  the  trouble  seems  to  lie  in  the  Club's  activi- 
ties, the  Leader  should  seriously  consider  whether  the 
girl's  criticisms  are  justified.  These  activities  cannot  be 
changed  to  suit  one  member's  whim;  but  this  one  girl's 
criticisms  may  be  the  outspoken  result  of  the  feeling 
of  many  of  the  members,  and  as  such  give  a  valuable 
hint  to  the  Leader  as  to  what  her  policy  should  be.  If, 
however,  the  girl  is  alone  in  her  dislike  of  the  Club,  the 
Leader  may  still  be  able  to  adjust  matters  so  that  there 
will  be  something  which  will  appeal  to  her. 

To  make  a  Club  vital  in  the  lives  of  a  group  of  girls 
calls  for  constant  attention  from  the  Leader.  Don't 
become  discouraged — think  of  a  new  plan  and  then  try 
it!  Make  the  meetings  so  interesting  that  the  members 
will  feel  that  they  are  missing  a  great  deal  if  they  stay 
away.  No  matter  how  few  the  number  who  come,  carry 
out  a  regular  meeting  of  some  sort.  It  may  not  be  the 
meeting  you  had  originally  planned.  But  whatever  you 
do,  start  something.  Otherwise,  the  Club  members  will 
become  still  more  irregular  in  attendance  and  will  say, 
"Oh,  our  Club  is  dying  out.  We  never  do  anything  any 
more." 

One  Leader  of  a  number  of  Clubs  was  greatly  dis- 


LITTLE  THINGS  THAT  COUNT  275 

couraged  by  the  small  attendance.  Each  Club  had  a 
good  enrolment  but  the  actual  attendance  every  week 
was  small.  Yet  she  persevered,  and  at  every  meeting 
the  girls  who  came  had  their  Club  songs  and  fancy 
marching  and  games.  In  time,  she  announced  an  inter- 
Club  contest  in  those  activities.  Up  until  the  actual  day 
of  the  contest,  she  had  never  had  the  girls  all  together. 
Interest  in  the  event,  however,  brought  them  out.  The 
quality  of  the  contest  work  was  not  what  it  would  have 
been  had  the  Leader  been  able  to  have  larger  Club  meet- 
ing for  the  practices.  But  the  event  accomplished  what 
she  had  hoped  for:  the  girls  became  interested  in  what 
the  Club  was  doing.  And  from  that  time  on,  the  meetings 
grew  larger. 

Don't  Implore  the  Girls  to  Come.  In  trying  to  induce 
the  girls  to  come  to  the  Club  or  to  return  after  they 
have  left,  many  Leaders  make  the  mistake  of  over-urging 
the  girls.  Oftentimes  this  has  the  effect  of  making  the 
girls  feel  too  important,  and  those  who  have  left  the  Club 
in  a  complaining  spirit  return  to  it  more  critical  than 
ever.  Urging  the  girls  to  take  more  interest  will  almost 
never  arouse  that  interest,  for  interest  comes  spon- 
taneously because  the  Club  draws  the  girl  to  it.  Every 
girl  should  be  made  to  feel  that  the  Leader  is  interested 
in  her,  personally,  and  is  sorry  when  she  stays  away. 
One  Leader  consistently  followed  the  plan  of  never  beg- 
ging her  girls  to  come.  When  one  had  stayed  away, 
she  would  try  to  see  the  girl  if  possible.  But  when  she 
did  meet  the  absentee,  the  conversation  would  not  be, 
"You  must  come  to  the  Club.  We  can't  get  along  with- 
out you."  Instead,  the  Leader  would  say,  "Isn't  it  too 
bad  you  missed  the  fun  the  other  evening?  And  the 


276  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

girls  are  planning  such  nice  things  for  the  next  few 
meetings,  too.  You  must  try  not  to  miss  them."  Such 
tactics  as  these  are  far  more  calculated  to  make  a  girl 
wish  to  come  back,  and  she  will  see  that,  after  all,  the 
Club  is  a  thing  of  larger  importance  than  she.  Her  re- 
spect for  the  Leader  is  almost  sure  to  be  greater  under 
such  circumstances  than  if  the  latter  had  fairly  fawned 
upon  her  in  an  effort  to  win  her  back  to  the  Club. 

Apropos  of  this  question,  Jane  Addams  has  said,  "I 
remember  once  in  London  I  visited  a  Club  of  young 
men  whose  long  waiting  list  had  been  kept  for  nearly 
a  year.  The  manager  of  the  Club  believed  that  it  was 
quite  as  useful  to  those  who  were  kept  out  as  to  those 
who  were  in.  I  think  something  of  that  sort  is  neces- 
sary, for  the  worst  possible  atmosphere  in  a  Settlement 
or  a  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  is  to  have  people 
thinking  that  they  are  coming  as  a  favor  to  you.  Then 
you  have  no  way  of  enforcing  your  standards.  It  is  a 
little  like  the  old-fashioned  Sunday-School  picnic,  where 
numbers  were  the  great  object,  with  nothing  definite 
aimed  at  beyond  that." 

Don't  Be  Afraid  of  Discipline.  There  will  come  a 
time  in  every  Club's  life  when  the  Leader  must  reso- 
lutely discipline  the  members.  It  may  be  a  matter  of 
the  whole  Club  or  of  one  girl.  But  the  time  is  bound 
to  come  once,  if  not  often.  The  younger  the  members 
of  the  Club,  the  more  often  is  it  necessary  to  use  a  strong 
hand  in  guiding  them.  It  is  not  a  pleasant  task,  but  the 
Leader  who  shirks  it  is  shirking  her  responsibility.  Too 
often  the  girls  come  from  homes  where  discipline  is 
decidedly  lax.  If  the  girl  is  a  wage-earner,  and  is  help- 
ing in  the  support  of  the  family,  obedience  to  commands 


LITTLE  THINGS  THAT  COUNT  277 

is  often  unknown  in  her  life.  Her  contributions  to 
the  family  budget  silence  any  suggestions  from  her 
elders  as  to  what  her  conduct  should  be.  In  homes  of 
the  foreign-born,  the  parents  frequently  do  not  realize 
the  problems  the  girl  is  meeting  on  the  streets  and  are 
not  preparing  her  to  grapple  with  them.  Every  good 
Leader  should  help  her  girls  by  resolutely  giving  them 
necessary  discipline.  The  fact  that  Club  attendance  is 
voluntary  should  never  interfere  with  this  performance 
of  duty.  A  Club  will  have  but  little  respect  for  a 
Leader  who  does  not  stand  for  a  high  standard  of  con- 
duct. And  it  has  been  shown  in  many  Clubs  where  such 
a  high  standard  is  enforced,  that  the  girls  feel  superior 
to  other  Clubs  where  any  and  everything  is  allowed. 

A  young  woman  was  once  put  in  charge  of  a  recrea- 
tion hall  in  a  church.  The  idea  was  for  her  to  gather 
groups  of  girls  together,  organize  them  into  Clubs,  and 
make  the  Hall  as  busy  and  helpful  a  Social  Center  as 
she  could.  At  the  outset  she  realized  that  her  success 
would  depend  on  the  number  of  girls  who  would  come 
voluntarily.  On  the  first  evening,  a  number  of  girls 
came,  but  she  soon  saw  that  at  least  half  of  them  were 
there  to  "try  her  out."  It  was  not  long  before  these 
troublesome  ones  refused  to  enter  into  any  of  the  even- 
ing's activities,  standing  in  a  scoffing  group  at  one  side. 
When,  at  last,  her  suggestions  were  met  with  cries  of, 
"Get  the  hook!"  the  Leader  resolutely  blew  her  whistle. 
She  then  spoke  to  the  girls  of  the  plan  for  the  Hall  and 
of  the  good  times  they  would  have  there.  "But,"  she 
concluded,  "this  can  be  a  Club  only  for  those  who  come 
prepared  to  act  like  ladies.  And  I  am  very  sorry  that 
I  must  ask  some  of  you  to  leave  us  now,  and  not  return 


278  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

until  you  can  behave  differently."  The  unruly  girls  filed 
out  with  parting  flings  at  the  Leader.  She  then  con- 
tinued the  fun  of  the  evening,  trying  to  interest  those 
who  stayed  so  that  they  would  come  back  to  her.  It 
was  with  fear  and  trembling  that  she  closed  the  Hall 
that  night.  Would  any  of  them  come  back?  The  second 
Club  meeting  brought  in  more  girls  than  the  first. 
Eventually,  even  the  unruly  ones  returned.  "If  I  hadn't 
taken  a  stern  stand  that  first  night,"  this  Club  Leader 
often  says,  "they  would  never  have  had  any  respect  for 
me  afterward,  and  I  would  never  have  been  able  to  con- 
trol them.  The  question  was  whether  they  or  I  were  to 
be  the  real  head  of  the  Hall." 

The  after-effects  of  disciplining  depend  upon  the  way 
in  which  a  Leader  has  handled  the  situation.  That 
Leader  is  wise  who  can  make  the  girls  feel  that  her 
indignation  has  been  aroused  not  against  them  person- 
ally but  against  their  misdeeds. 

Before  public  action  is  taken  in  any  case,  it  is  always 
well  to  try  all  other  means.  A  quiet  talk  by  the  Leader 
with  the  girl  alone  will  often  bring  about  a  change  in 
the  girl's  actions.  Or  the  Club  President  (one  of  the 
girls)  may  see  the  culprit.  Where  a  girl  sees  that  her 
own  friends  do  not  approve  of  what  she  is  doing,  she 
is  usually  quick  to  change.  The  influence  of  friends 
has  often  proved  powerful.  One  Club  Leader  has  said, 
"I  remember  the  girl  who  went  back  to  school  when 
her  truancy  was  discovered  by  her  Club  President,  be- 
cause she  didn't  want  her  Club  disgraced  by  having  the 
truant  officers  sent  after  one  of  its  members !  The  pres- 
sure exerted  by  fellow-members  in  order  that  the  Club 
may  have  a  better  standing  in  the  Community  often 


LITTLE  THINGS  THAT  COUNT  279 

keeps  boys  or  girls  in  school  longer,  or  sends  them  to 
evening  school,  when  their  own  inclination  would  let 
them  drift  away." 

The  Leader  of  a  Club  which  meets  in  a  church,  a 
Y.  W.  C.  A.,  a  Settlement  or  a  business  house,  may  often 
throw  the  responsibility  for  certain  rules  on  the  "House" 
with  which,  indeed,  they  did  originate.  A  Leader  in  a 
Settlement  has  said  that  she  herself  has  never  expelled 
a  Club  member;  instead,  she  has  called  upon  the  Head 
of  the  House  to  do  it.  In  this  way,  if  any  criticism  of 
the  action  comes  from  the  Club  members,  it  is  directed 
chiefly  against  those  who  are  not  in  direct  personal  con- 
tact with  the  girls,  and  the  rebellious  spirit  quickly  dis- 
appears. In  a  Y.  W.  C.  A.  building  where  there  were 
certain  regulations  for  all  activities,  the  caution,  "It's 
against  the  rules  of  the  House,  girls,"  has  been  much 
more  powerful  and  impersonal  than,  "Don't  do  that.  I 
don't  want  you  to."  In  a  business  house  whose  manager 
was  greatly  loved  and  respected,  a  Club  Leader  found 
a  powerful  appeal  for  good  behavior  to  be,  "Girls,  what 
would  Mr.  Smith  say,  if  he  were  to  see  you  do  that?" 

Disciplining  often  has  a  beneficial  effect  upon  many 
of  the  girls  beside  those  with  whom  it  has  directly  dealt. 
Although  at  the  time  she  has  done  it  a  Leader  may  be 
profoundly  discouraged  when  she  has  had  to  deal  sternly 
with  the  girls,  she  often  realizes  in  time  that  her  Club 
has  truly  "cleaned  house,"  for  a  new  spirit  of  unity  and 
earnestness  is  evident.  A  Club  should  not  be  burdened 
with  rules  and  regulations  which  are  constantly  dinned 
into  their  ears.  Neither  should  the  girls  feel  free  to  act 
as.  they  please.  Every  Leader  should  stand  definitely 


280  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

for  a  high  standard  of  conduct.  The  respect  of  her  girls 
will  be  her  reward  for  this. 

Keep  Your  Promises.  "She  always  does  what  she 
says  she  will."  Could  anything  show  more  confidence 
and  trust  than  such  a  statement  from  a  Club  girl  about 
her  Leader?  If  a  Leader  wishes  to  train  her  girls  to 
possess  that  valuable  asset  reliability,  she  must  be  reliable 
herself.  And  the  caution  for  a  Club  Leader  at  this  point 
is  obviously  this:  if  you  mean  to  do  what  you  say  you 
will,  be  careful  what  you  promise  to  do ! 

See  an  Opportunity  in  All  Personal  Contact.  It  is 
easy  for  a  Leader  to  become  so  absorbed  in  the  classes 
and  activities  of  a  Club  that  she  forgets  the  opportuni- 
ties to  give  help  which  lie  in  every  chance  conversation. 
Being  in  a  play  may  develop  a  girl's  poise,  but  perhaps 
it  is  the  short  talk  with  the  Club  Leader  before  re- 
hearsal which  encourages  her  to  keep  on  in  her  work 
or  to  be  pleasant. 

The  most  important  consideration  in  taking  advantage 
of  opportunities  opened  through  personal  contact  is  that 
of  giving  the  girl  something  definite  to  do  at  once.  A 
general  talk  on  the  value  of  ambition  may  not  be  so 
effective  as  placing  a  good  book  in  the  girl's  hands  or 
telling  her  of  an  evening  school  where  she  may  learn 
and  develop.  "Start  somewhere"  is  the  advice  given 
frequently  by  a  Club  organizer  of  years'  experience  to 
her  new  Leaders. 

Relate  the  Club  Activities  to  the  Personal  Development 
of  Your  Girls.  In  everything  the  Club  does  lies  an  op- 
portunity to  develop  good  characteristics  in  the  girls  if 
the  Leader  is  alert,  quick  to  take  advantage  of  every 
opportunity.  Even  the  games  give  a  chance  to  train 


LITTLE  THINGS  THAT  COUNT  281 

the  girls  to  be  honest  and  to  think  of  their  teams  rather 
than  of  themselves  only.  A  Leader  of  a  recreation  Club 
was  greatly  distressed  by  the  poor  English  which  her 
girls  used.  So  she  introduced  a  new  idea  into  their 
fun.  No  girl  was  to  be  answered  who  used  rough 
language  or  who  made  a  bad  mistake  in  speaking. 

"What?"  she  would  say,  in  a  laughing  way,  "what 
did  I  hear  you  say?"  Even  the  girls  who  did  not  take 
the  matter  seriously  corrected  themselves.  And  the 
Leader  kept  before  them  at  every  meeting  the  use  of 
better  English. 

Let  the  Girls  Do  the  Work.  This  applies  to  every 
phase  of  Club  life  and  cannot  be  over-emphasized.  A 
Leader  should  never  do  what  one  of  her  girls  could 
undertake.  The  latter  may  not  do  it  so  quickly  or  so 
well,  but  the  Leader  should  never  forget  that  the  Club 
exists  to  give  its  members  opportunity  to  develop.  She 
is  there  to  make  this  opportunity  wherever  she  can.  The 
Club's  activities  train  the  girls,  and  it  is  by  sharing  in 
them  that  their  interest  is  aroused.  The  greater  their 
share  in  the  work,  the  greater  their  interest. 

A  number  of  college  girls  who  were  Councilors  in 
a  large  girls'  camp  once  had  this  lesson  impressed  upon 
them  in  an  interesting  way.  It  was  a  rainy  afternoon 
in  Camp  and  they  decided  to  give  an  informal  play  for 
the  Camp  girls.  The  Camp  all  came  together  and  the 
play  was  successfully  given  and  greatly  enjoyed.  At  its 
close,  a  half-hour  still  remained  before  supper  time.  The 
Councilors  then  announced  a  song  contest.  The  camp 
girls  were  divided  into  groups  and  given  twenty  minutes 
to  write  a  new  camp  song.  At  the  close  of  the  time 
allotted,  each  group  was  called  upon  to  render  its  song, 


282  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

and  judges  decided  which  effort  was  the  best.  At  supper 
that  night,  the  Camp  Leader — who  had  not  been  present 
at  the  festivities — was  much  interested  in  the  Camp  Girls' 
accounts  of  the  afternoon.  They  mentioned  the  play 
in  passing,  but  what  they  eagerly  discussed  was  the  Song 
Contest.  The  Camp  Leader,  who  saw  the  significance 
of  this,  brought  the  lesson  to  the  Councilors.  "You 
see,  girls,"  she  said,  "the  Camp  really  enjoyed  most  what 
they  did  themselves/' 

Train  Your  Girls  to  Be  Leaders.  A  Leader  who 
throws  as  much  responsibility  on  her  girls  as  she  can 
should  not  be  satisfied  until  she  has  trained  as  many 
as  possible  to  actually  have  a  share  in  the  directing. 
"Never  continue  any  kind  of  class  or  activity  without 
having  an  understudy" — this  is  the  wise  suggestion  which 
a  successful  business  manager  always  gives  to  the  Club 
organizers  in  his  Store.  This  course  of  action  is  good 
for  the  girls  whom  it  trains,  and  good  for  the  Club  as 
well,  for  the  latter  is  helped  by  having  girls  ready  to 
step  in  and  tide  over  an  emergency  in  which  the  Leader 
or  Instructor  is  forced  to  be  away.  One  Club  organizer 
who  was  directing  a  large  exhibition  realized  the  wis- 
dom of  this  policy  when  the  instructor  of  dancing  fell 
ill  the  week  before  the  date  set  for  the  program.  The 
instructor  had  early  appointed  a  "leader"  in  each  num- 
ber who  had  acted  as  her  understudy.  These  "leaders" 
stepped  to  the  front  in  the  instructor's  absence  and  the 
rehearsals  were  not  interrupted. 

In  trying  this  plan,  a  Club  Leader  should  keep  in 
mind  that  her  "leaders"  or  understudies  must  be  trained. 
It  is  not  enough  to  appoint  them  and  then  expect  them 
at  once  to  assume  and  carry  out  responsibilities  wisely. 


LITTLE  THINGS  THAT  COUNT  283 

And  she  must  use  great  judgment  in  selecting  these 
understudies,  for  she  is  putting  them  into  a  place  of 
prominence.  The  girl  who  can  do  the  work  best  but  is 
not  in  good  standing  in  the  Club  is  not  always  the  girl 
for  the  place.  If  she  will  mend  her  ways,  then  giving 
her  the  opportunity  to  use  her  ability  may  help  her  and 
help  the  Club.  But  if  she  is  a  girl  who  "doesn't  care," 
who  has  no  regard  for  the  ideals  of  the  Club,  then  it 
is  better  to  relegate  her  to  the  ranks,  with  a  full  under- 
standing as  to  the  reason  for  the  choice,  and  to  fill  the 
place — more  advantageously — with  a  girl  whose  personal 
influence  upon  her  fellow-club  members  is  for  higher 
things.  Honoring  a  girl  for  ability  only,  regardless  of 
character,  is  a  bad  thing  for  a  Club.  Ability  and  char- 
acter— these  two  considerations  should  be  before  every 
Club  Leader  when  she  tries  the  "understudy"  plan. 

Train  Your  Girls  for  Team-Work.  While  a  Club 
should  give  all  possible  opportunity  for  the  individual 
development  of  its  members,  the  Club  Leader  must  not 
forget  that  the  girls  go  out  from  the  Club  into  their 
families  and  the  community.  They  can  learn  no  better 
thing  than  cooperation.  One  great  value  of  the  Club 
idea  is  that  through  the  activities  the  girls  learn  to  work 
together  in  harmony.  They  learn  to  think  of  others. 
"What  is  done  for  one  is  done  for  all."  "Give  everyone 
a  chance."  This  spirit  in  a  Club  cannot  but  make  of 
its  members  better  daughters  and  better  citizens. 

A  Leader  should  allow  no  gossip  or  cutting  criticism 
of  other  Club  members  in  her  presence.  Where  this  is 
permitted,  cliques  are  quickly  formed  and  Club  spirit 
suffers  accordingly.  One  Leader  noticed  that  several  of 
her  girls  were  coming  to  the  meeting  early  and  gathering 


284  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

together  for  a  talk.  As  she  passed  by  on  several  even- 
ings, she  realized  that  they  were  gossiping  about  other 
members.  After  this,  she  joined  the  group  as  soon  as 
they  came  in,  talking  with  them  of  interesting  happen- 
ings of  the  week  or  other  things  which  held  their  atten- 
tion. She  also  had  a  private  talk  with  the  ring-leaders 
about  the  wrong  in  what  they  had  been  doing.  She 
was  successful  in  her  efforts  and  was  not  forced  to  use 
any  more  strenuous  methods. 

The  girl  who  is  led  to  realize  that  what  she  does  has 
an  influence  over  others,  that  when  she  considers  others 
she  is  happier  and  more  useful,  becomes  thereby  better 
able  to  go  out  from  the  Club  life  into  the  life  of  her 
Community.  To  the  Club  Leader  is  given  the  privilege 
of  teaching  her  what  cooperation  is.  "Team  Work"  is 
a  magic  word  which  opens  a  whole  field  in  Club  service. 


CHAPTER  XII 
KEEPING  UP  THE  INTEREST 

THERE  is  nothing  more  fatal  to  Club  life  than  the 
"same  old  thing."  The  Leader  who  wishes  to  have  her 
Club  live  on  through  months  and  years  must  keep  con- 
stantly on  the  alert  for  new  ideas  which  will  arouse 
fresh  interest  among  the  members.  The  policy  of  the 
Club  may  remain  the  same;  its  big  purpose  unchanged. 
But  unless  there  is  a  steady  influx  of  new  ideas,  of 
variations  in  the  way  in  which  the  activities  are  carried 
out,  many  of  the  members  will  weary  of  the  Club  and 
drop  out.  This  is  especially  true  where  the  membership 
remains  almost  the  same  year  in  and  year  out. 

What,  then,  can  a  Leader  do  to  hold  the  interest  of 
her  girls?  The  value  of  the  carefully  planned  and  well 
balanced  program  has  already  been  considered.  There 
are,  however,  several  elements  in  Club  life  which  work 
definitely  for  keeping  alive  the  keen  interest  of  the 
members. 

Every  Girl  Enjoys  a  Party 

Giving  parties  for  the  members  or  for  their  friends 
has  been  found  a  most  valuable  part  of  the  Club  life. 
It  has  numerous  advantages.  The  event  is  not  concerned 


286  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

only  with  the  evening  on  which  it  is  held ;  the  Club  must 
plan  and  prepare  for  it.  Games  must  be  decided  upon — 
refreshments  must  be  arranged  for — invitations  must  be 
sent  out.  All  these  call  for  preliminary  committee  work, 
and  the  Club  at  once  becomes  a  busy  center.  Provided 
care  is  taken  to  keep  the  parties  simple,  a  Club  can 
entertain  at  a  series  of  them  during  the  year,  each  given 
for  a  special  purpose.  Many  Clubs  schedule  their 
parties  as  a  regular  part  of  the  year's  program.  The 
social  events  of  one  city  Club  are  somewhat  as  follows. 
The  first  party  is  in  the  Fall  of  the  year  and  is  for 
Club  members  only — a  Reunion  party,  after  vacation 
time.  After  vacation,  the  girls  have  much  to  tell  each 
other  of  the  good  times  they  have  had.  What  such  a 
party  may  be  is  shown  in  the  following  description  of 
one  held  in  a  settlement  house : 

"The  first  meeting  last  year  made  definite  the  connec- 
tion between  our  Summer  Camp  work  and  the  Club  life 
in  the  winter.  It  was  a  Camp  Reunion,  as  it  were,  with 
a  little  of  the  camp  atmosphere  imparted  through  the 
costumes  of  the  girls,  who  all  appeared  in  camp  dress, 
braided  hair,  and  middy  blouses.  This  meeting  was 
made  the  occasion  for  awarding  the  tangible  marks — the 
Camp  honors:  armbands  embroidered  with  stars — which 
recognize  the  wearer's  ability  in  Camp  management.  It 
adds  tremendously  to  the  effectiveness  of  the  winter's 
work  if  those  two  weeks  of  close  intercourse  with  the 
girls  in  Camp  in  Summer  are  bound  as  closely  to  it  as 
possible,  and  the  one  made  to  react  upon  the  other." 

This  Club  also  gives  parties  to  special  groups  of  friends 
or  relatives :  mothers'  parties ;  parties  to  which  the  mem- 
bers invite  their  young  men  friends;  "At  Home"  even- 


KEEPING  UP  THE  INTEREST  287 

ings  to  other  Clubs — these  give  to  the  girls  the  oppor- 
tunity of  acting  as  hostesses. 

At  the  mothers'  party — always  a  special  occasion — 
the  Club  Leader  gets  into  close  touch  with  the  mothers. 
The  latter  come  to  know  the  Leader  and  the  Club  in 
a  direct  way,  for  they  see  it  in  operation.  They  enter 
into  the  games  as  enthusiastically  as  their  daughters.  At 
one  such  party,  the  girls  of  this  Club  held  a  model  busi- 
ness meeting  to  "show  what  we  do."  This  elicited  many 
interested  questions  from  the  mothers.  At  all  such 
parties,  the  Leader  take  advantage  of  every  opening  to 
tell  the  guests  what  the  Club  is  trying  to  do  for  their 
daughters  and  to  ask  for  their  active  help  and  sugges- 
tions. Often  in  these  conversations,  the  mothers  repeat 
remarks  made  by  the  girls  at  home,  and  this  gives  the 
Leader  a  new  insight  into  the  way  the  members  them- 
selves regard  their  Club.  The  experience  of  this  particu- 
lar Club  with  mothers'  parties  is  by  no  means  unique. 
A  successful  mothers'  party  will  always  bring  the  Club 
and  the  home  life  of  the  girls  into  more  intimate  rela- 
tionship. 

In  this  same  city  Club,  the  "At  Home"  evenings  for 
young  men  have  always  been  gala  occasions  of  especial 
value  to  the  Leader  because,  as  she  has  said,  "The  girls 
seem  to  act  differently  when  the  boys  are  here,  and  that 
gives  me  a  clue  to  several  of  my  problems."  Such  a 
party  will  show  any  Club  Leader  the  kind  of  associates  her 
girls  are  choosing.  Their  behavior  there  will  often  point 
to  lessons  in  conduct  which  she  must  impress  upon  them 
in  the  future.  Some  girls  may  be  in  serious  need  of  a 
personal  talk  about  their  relations  with  young  men,  and 
the  party  shows  the  Leader  what  she  must  do.  In  a 


288  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

community  where  there  are  only  rare  opportunities  for 
the  young  people  to  have  wholesome  good  times  together, 
the  Girls'  Club  which  holds  successful  "Young  Men's 
Evenings"  is  rendering  an  important  social  service. 

The  idea  of  giving  a  party  for  another  Club  or  group 
of  girls,  who  are  in  need  of  friendly  sociability,  intro- 
duces into  the  social  program  thought  fulness  for  others. 
A  Leader  in  New  York  City,  hearing  of  a  group  of 
immigrant  girls  who  could  come  to  them  for  an  evening, 
suggested  to  her  Club  that  they  entertain  these  girls,  so 
new  to  America.  The  Club  received  the  idea  enthusiastic- 
ally and  extended  the  invitation.  The  immigrant  girls 
came,  most  of  them  with  interpreters.  American  and 
foreign  girls  played  happily  together.  The  fact  that 
they  could  not  speak  directly  to  each  other  did  not  stand 
in  the  way  of  a  most  successful  evening.  As  a  result 
of  this  party,  the  Club  girls  became  interested  in  knowing 
more  about  the  lands  from  which  their  guests  had  come 
to  America.  When,  later,  this  Club  was  invited  to  go 
to  Ellis  Island  and  give  an  evening  of  entertainment  to 
the  foreigners  gathered  there,  the  Leader  discussed,  at 
a  preliminary  meeting,  the  methods  our  Government  uses 
for  receiving  foreigners.  So  it  is  that  the  social  life 
of  a  Club  may  be  developed  into  something  more  than 
fun,  and  the  good  times  may  be  an  act  of  real  service 
to  others. 

Plan  Your  Party  Programs  Beforehand 

There  are  two  pitfalls  against  which  a  Leader  and  her 
Club  may  well  guard,  in  planning  for  the  parties — too 
many  parties,  and  insufficient  preparation  for  those  which 


KEEPING  UP  THE  INTEREST  289 

are  given.  If  the  party  idea  is  overworked,  its  novelty 
will  disappear  and  parties  will  no  longer  give  an  impetus 
to  the  Club  work;  the  parties  then  become  a  real  drag. 

Careful  preliminary  planning  of  the  evening's  fun  is 
essential  to  the  success  of  a  party.  If  games  are  to  be 
played,  the  committee  in  charge  and  the  Leader  should 
be  ready  with  sufficient  number  to  fill  in  the  time.  More- 
over, a  wise  Leader  will  always  be  ready  with  several 
games  in  reserve  to  be  used  in  case  of  emergency.  Good 
games  are  not  difficult  to  find.  Every  library  has  books 
on  the  subject.  Many  women's  magazines  contain  sug- 
gestions every  month.  The  girls  themselves  often  bring 
good  ideas  which  can  be  used  by  the  Committee.  Where 
the  party  time  is  to  be  spend  in  dancing,  variety  can 
be  given  to  the  evening  by  the  introduction  of  such 
"change-partners"  dances  as  the  Paul  Jones. 

Planning  the  schedule  of  the  parties  which  a  Club  is 
to  give  is  often  made  easy  by  fitting  the  party  to  the 
season  of  the  year.  Near  Valentine  Day,  the  stores  are 
filled  with  dainty,  inexpensive  favors  of  all  kinds.  At 
Hallowe'en,  the  question  of  decorating  the  room  is  easily 
met,  and  the  program  may  be  filled  with  the  many 
fascinating,  mysterious  Hallowe'en  games. 

The  following  is  a  suggestive  list  of  special  times  for 
which  parties  may  well  be  planned: 

September    Vacation  Reunions. 

Harvest  Festival. 

Labor  Day. 

October        Hallowe'en. 
November    Thanksgiving. 
December     Christmas. 
January        New  Year. 

Mid- Year  Banquet 


29o  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

February      Lincoln's  Birthday. 

St.  Valentine's  Day. 

Washington's  Birthday. 
March  St.  Patrick's  Day. 

Easter. 

April  April  Fool. 

May  May  Day. 

Mothers'  Day. 

Fathers'  Day. 

June  Children's  Day. 

July  Fourth  of  July. 

Flag  Day. 

Local  or  special  interests  often  form  the  basis  for  a 
party.  A  Girls'  Club  near  New  York  City  arranged  for 
a  "Dippy-drome"  evening — a  "take-off"  on  the  New  York 
Hippodrome.  And  because  the  Club  girls  had  all  been 
to  the  real  Hippodrome,  they  thoroughly  enjoyed  the 
efforts  of  their  fellow-members  in  imitating  well-known 
stars.  "Dreamland  and  Screamland"  was  the  name  of 
a  party  of  similar  nature  given  by  a  Girls'  Club.  Even- 
ings such  as  these  pique  the  curiosity  of  the  members 
and  provide  a  good  time  which  is  new  and  therefore 
interesting. 

Contests  as  a  Stimulus 

Contests  are  often  a  most  helpful  means  of  stimulating 
Club  activity.  Through  them,  many  girls  rouse  them- 
selves to  see  what  they  can  do.  Friendly  rivalry  stirs 
their  enthusiasm  and  eagerness.  Throughout  the  Club 
there  is  a  thrill.  But  here  a  word  of  caution  for  the 
Leader:  Club  members  should  never  cease  to  work  for 
the  good  of  the  whole.  Contests  based  on  personal 


KEEPING  UP  THE  INTEREST  291 

competition  may  arouse  in  some  girls  too  great  a  desire 
to  outshine  the  others  and  too  great  a  love  of  personal 
glory.  For  these  reasons,  some  Leaders  do  not  try  the 
contest  plan.  Yet  many  others  feel  that  they  have  made 
a  valuable  contribution  to  a  girl's  character  when  they 
teach  her  how  to  enter  into  a  competition  in  the  right 
spirit  and  gain  from  it  the  right  lessons.  How  have 
such  Leaders  conducted  their  contests  in  such  a  way  as 
to  bring  forth  good  results? 

The  Purpose  of  a  Contest.  The  purpose  of  a  contest 
is  to  rouse  the  girls  to  do  certain  Club  work  in  the  best 
way  they  can.  As  in  an  exhibit,  the  greater  the  number 
of  girls  who  can  be  actively  included,  the  more  far- 
reaching  will  be  the  results.  A  contest  should  teach  the 
girls  to  take  failure  in  a  spirit  of  courage  and  hope,  and 
to  stand  success  without  losing  ambition  for  further 
attainments  and  without  showing  a  spirit  of  personal 
conceit.  The  Leader's  task  in  a  contest  is  to  emphasize 
the  good  which  comes  to  every  girl  who  tries  and  does 
her  best.  "Work  well  done"  is  the  underlying  aim  of 
it  all. 

Kinds  of  Contests.  There  are,  in  general,  two  kinds 
of  contests — those  held  within  the  Club  itself  (between 
the  Club  members),  and  those  which  are  Inter-Club  in 
nature  and  in  which  the  strength  of  the  Club  as  a  whole 
is  pitted  against  that  of  another  organization. 

Within  the  Club,  the  contests  may  be  in  the  line  of 
individual  attainment  or  team  attainment.  Where  the 
contest  is  between  individuals,  the  great  advantage  is 
that  every  girl  may  enter.  Individual  gain  is  at  stake 
and  the  girls  do  not  resent  the  fact  that  any  girl,  how- 
ever poor  in  the  work,  is  entering ;  if  she  wishes  to  make 


292  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

a  poor  showing,  she  herself  pays  the  price.  The  good 
name  of  the  Club  is  not  involved.  In  a  contest  of  this 
kind  the  emphasis  is  naturally  upon  individual  prowess. 

The  contest  of  individual  attainment  has  been  used  by 
many  Clubs  in  filling  positions  of  importance  in  the 
organization.  The  college  plan  of  awarding  certain  offices 
by  trials  and  popular  vote  is  a  splendid  means  for  in- 
ducing every  girl  to  try  herself  out.  Such  trials  are, 
essentially,  individual  contests.  The  offices  of  Song  and 
Cheer  Leaders  call  for  a  special  kind  of  ability,  for 
example.  The  Club  does  not  really  know  who  can 
effectively  fill  these  offices  until  it  has  seen  the  girls  try. 
A  time  is  therefore  set  for  the  "trials"  at  which  any  girl 
who  so  wishes  may  appear  and  lead  the  Club  in  a  song 
or  a  cheer.  The  Club  then  votes,  choosing  from  among 
the  candidates  those  girls  who,  in  its  judgment,  will  best 
fill  the  positions.  In  this  way,  opportunity  to  actually 
perform  the  duties  is  given  to  every  girl  in  the  Club. 
Such  trials  often  reveal  ability  hitherto  unknown.  To 
be  sure,  the  final  voting  of  the  Club  members  may  be 
influenced  by  personal  like  or  dislike  of  the  candidate, 
but  at  least  to  some  extent  the  individual  capacities  of 
the  girls  will  be  recognized. 

In  many  of  the  Club's  activities  the  individual  contest 
idea  may  play  a  happy  part.  In  a  sewing  class,  the 
competition  may  revolve  around  the  best  article  com- 
pleted by  a  member.  In  the  singing,  a  contest  may  be 
held  for  the  best  original  words  for  a  Club  song.  A 
Suggestion  Contest  in  which  the  effort  is  made  to  secure 
good  suggestions  for  Club  work  often  brings  in  many 
good  ideas. 

In  a  large  Club,  contests  between  several  Club  teams 


KEEPING  UP  THE  INTEREST  493 

may  be  held.  In  such  a  contest,  those  on  the  teams  are 
chosen  for  their  ability.  Each  team  wishes  to  include 
the  good  players.  The  process  of  choosing  takes  place 
before  the  contest  is  begun.  This  sets  before  the  girls 
a  high  standard  of  excellence  in  attainment  and  is  often 
a  great  incentive.  A  Leader,  however,  should  carefully 
see  to  it  that  the  privileges  and  advantages  are  not 
usurped  wholly  by  the  better  players,  but  rather  shared 
by  as  many  Club  girls  as  possible. 

With  Inter-Club  games  and  contests,  this  problem  be- 
comes even  greater.  To  each  girl  the  importance  of 
the  event  lies  in  the  fact  that  her  Club  will  win  or  lose. 
The  members  who  take  part  represent  the  Club — their 
ability  is  the  Club's — their  success  is  the  Club's.  The 
Club  is  the  first  consideration.  So,  in  choosing  those 
who  are  to  enter  such  a  contest,  it  is  necessary  to  select 
those  who  will  do  the  specified  work  in  the  best  way. 
The  discipline  which  this  selective  process  gives  the  girls 
is  the  same  which  is  given  in  any  school  when  a  school 
team  made  up  of  only  a  few  is  chosen  from  the  many  who 
try  for  it.  The  girls  learn  to  put  love  of  Club  before 
love  of  personal  glory,  and  that  in  itself  is  a  valuable 
lesson. 

But  the  Inter-Club  contest  between  teams  is  not  the 
only  kind  which  may  be  held.  It  may  be  made  to  in- 
clude all  the  Club  members  who  work  in  it  as  a  single 
unit.  Song  contests  and  dancing  contests  (such  as  the 
May-Pole  dance)  may  include  all  the  members.  In  the 
first,  one  Club  sings  its  songs ;  then  its  rivals  sing  theirs. 
In  each  Club  every  girl  enters  in  and  does  her  best. 

Conducting  the  Contest.  Every  contest,  whatever  its 
nature,  should  be  conducted  with  a  complete  understand- 


294  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

ing  concerning  the  points  which  are  to  be  considered  in 
the  decision. 

To  whom  shall  the  contest  be  open? 

What  work  will  it  include? 

By  what  system  of  rating  will  it  be  judged? 
All  this  should  be  decided  upon  before  the  work  upon 
th.  Contest  is  begun,  so  that  all  who  enter  may  clearly 
unG^rstand  the  conditions.  In  determining  these,  the 
Club  members  can  often  be  of  great  assistance.  When 
they  themselves  consider  the  problem  of  how  the  contest 
shall  be  judged,  for  the  time  being  they  are  acting  in 
the  capacity  of  judges,  and  the  understanding  which  they 
thus  gain  helps  them  later  to  view  the  contest  in  a  fair- 
minded  way.  Where  technical  points  are  involved  in  a 
contest  (such  as  a  gymnastic  exhibition)  it  will  be  nec- 
essary for  the  instructor  herself  to  draw  up  the  rating, 
for  the  members  will  scarcely  know  the  various  technical 
elements  which  make  for  success. 

Whatever  the  system  of  rating  used,  the  important 
point  is  to  make  sure  that  there  is  such  a  system.  Woe 
betide  the  Leader  who  does  not  have  complete  regula- 
tions for  her  contests,  but  who  simply  lets  the  circum- 
stances of  the  moment  decide  the  matter!  Those  Club 
girls  who  are  dissatisfied  with  the  result  will  at  once  come 
to  her  and  ask  "Why  didn't  you  choose  Mary?"  If,  then, 
she  has  no  definite  reasons,  her  case  is  lost,  and  in  the 
eyes  of  her  Club  she  is  convicted  of  favoritism.  If, 
however,  she  has  a  card  on  which  the  various  points  of 
each  girl  have  been  rated,  she  can  at  once  say  "Mary 
did  not  stand  straight"  or,  "Jennie's  petticoat  showed" 
' — details  which  escaped  the  casual  attention  of  Mary's 
or  Jennie's  enthusiastic  friends ! 


KEEPING  UP  THE  INTEREST  295 

In  drawing  up  the  rating  points  great  care  should  be 
taken  to  emphasize  the  main  purpose  of  the  contest; 
that  is,  the  larger  number  of  points  should  be  assigned 
for  excellence  in  that  line  of  attainment  for  which  the 
contest  is  primarily  held.  Lesser  points  may  be  given 
for  other  supplementary  considerations,  graded  accord- 
ing to  their  relative  importance.  In  a  Folk  Dancing 
contest,  for  example,  the  chief  mark  may  be  made  for 
the  excellence  of  the  actual  performance;  but  if  the 
Leader  has  announced  in  advance  that  such  points  as 
personal  appearance  and  cleanliness  will  be  taken  into 
consideration,  definite  rating  may  also  be  given  to  these. 

In  some  Clubs,  success  in  a  contest  is  made  to  depend 
not  only  upon  excellence  in  the  final  showing  but  also 
upon  the  girls'  accomplishments  during  several  weeks  or 
months  of  Club  life.  In  such  cases,  several  phases  of 
Club  activity  are  often  taken  into  consideration  and  are 
graded  according  to  their  relative  importance,  careful 
records  being  kept  throughout  the  entire  time. 

As  a  rule,  the  ratings  for  a  contest  are  made  upon 
the  basis  of  one  hundred.  The  total  of  one  hundred 
points  is  subdivided  according  to  the  various  divisions 
which  are  to  be  taken  into  consideration.  Each  girl  is 
rated  in  each  division,  and  the  sum  total  marks  her  rank 
in  the  contest. 

In  deciding  who  shall  enter  a  Club  contest,  the  natural 
tendency  of  a  Leader  will  be  to  open  it  to  as  many 
Club  girls  as  care  to  enter.  This  is  an  excellent  principle 
to  follow  with  members  "in  good  and  regular  standing." 
A  girl  who  has  been  irregular  in  her  attendance,  or  care- 
less in  her  effort  to  live  up  to  the  Club's  ideals,  may 
have  great  ability  along  the  line  of  the  contest  work  and 


296  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

might,  if  she  were  to  enter,  win  a  first  place.  If  the 
Leader  admits  this  girl  to  the  contest,  she  apparently 
discounts  the  importance  of  regular  attendance  at  the 
Club  and  of  living  up  to  the  Club's  ideals;  and  if  the 
girl  wins,  those  members  who  have  been  faithful  and 
earnest  may  become  discouraged  and  say  "What  is  the 
use  of  our  trying  any  more?  That  girl  doesn't  do  the 
Club  work  every  week,  but  now  she  has  first  place." 

But  if  the  contest  rules  are  so  made  that  the  girl  who 
has  not  been  faithful  is  not  admitted  to  the  contest,  this 
very  refusal  may  be  beneficial  in  stimulating  her  to  come 
regularly  in  order  that  she  may  enter  the  next  contest. 

The  Judges  of  the  Contest.  In  an  important  Club  con- 
test the  question  of  who  is  to  act  as  Judge  becomes 
momentous.  A  Leader  will  do  well  to  secure,  if  possible, 
the  services  of  a  judge  who  has  no  personal  connection 
with  the  Club.  There  are  obvious  advantages  in  having 
a  "strictly  neutral"  decision  in  a  contest  where  the  spirit 
runs  high.  A  primary  requisite  is  naturally  some  special 
knowledge  of  the  activity  in  which  the  contest  centers. 
Girls  quickly  recognize  and  appreciate  thoroughgoing 
knowledge  in  a  judge.  A  decision  from  an  outside  expert 
not  only  arouses  the  respect  of  the  girls  but  also 
emphasizes  for  them  the  importance  of  their  contest. 
"Surely,"  they  argue,  "an  expert  would  not  come  to 
judge  our  contest  if  it  were  not  worth  while." 

The  Leader  of  a  Recreation  Club  in  New  York  City, 
knowing  the  interest  which  her  girls  have  in  college 
activities — and  their  respect  for  college  graduates — 
habitually  invites  college  friends  to  act  as  judges  in  the 
contests  which  she  holds.  "We  have  as  judge  of  our 
drill  this  evening,"  she  may  say,  "Miss  Dean  who  played 


SINGING  AS  THEY  Go 

A  Y.  W.  C.  A.  Pageant  at  Silver  Bay,  N.  Y. 


"  WE  CAN  TRIM  A  HAT,  SIRS  " 

Household  Arts  Episode  in  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  Pageant,  "  The  Ministering  of  the  Gift." 


KEEPING  UP  THE  INTEREST  297 

on  the  Vassar  College  Hockey  team."  Or  at  a  Song 
Contest,  she  may  remark,  "Miss  Sprague  will  act  as 
judge  to-day.  When  she  was  at  Smith  College,  she  led 
all  the  girls  in  the  singing." 

A  Leader  in  a  large  store  has  successfully  tried  the 
plan  of  having  three  judges  for  her  contests,  one  of 
them  being  always  a  prominent  official  of  the  Store.  The 
presence  of  such  a  man  or  woman  adds  decided  prestige 
to  any  affair.  If,  in  addition  to  acting  as  judge,  the 
Store  official  makes  a  short  talk,  the  girls  realize  that 
their  Club  is  a  matter  of  interest  not  only  to  themselves 
but  to  the  Heads  of  the  Store  as  well. 

Just  as  all  the  Club  members  must  thoroughly  under- 
stand all  the  points  which  are  to  be  taken  into  considera- 
tion in  deciding  the  contest,  so  the  judges  should  be 
completely  informed  concerning  the  contest  before  they 
come  to  the  event.  One  Leader,  who  holds  annual  con- 
tests of  various  kinds  in  her  Club,  makes  personal  calls 
upon  those  who  are  to  act  as  judges,  in  order  to  explain 
not  only  all  the  regulations  of  the  contest  but  also  the 
aims  and  purposes  of  the  Club.  This  brings  the  judges 
into  sympathetic  relationship  with  the  Club  and  helps 
them  in  their  work  of  judging  the  contest. 

The  Rewards  of  a  Contest.  "If  I  hold  a  contest,  what 
shall  be  given  to  the  winners?"  This  question  will  at 
once  occur  to  the  Club  Leader  who  is  considering  the 
possibility  of  inaugurating  a  contest.  The  rewards  of 
a  contest  may  be  either  collective  or  individual  in  nature : 
collective,  when  the  entire  Club  is  awarded  a  banner  or 
a  silver  cup  or  anything  which  becomes  the  property  of 
the  Club  as  a  whole;  individual,  when  each  successful 


298  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

Club  member  receives  a  pin  or  a  book  or  some  individual 
award  of  merit,  to  be  her  own  personal  possession. 

Some  Club  Leaders  object  to  the  giving  of  prizes  be- 
cause they  feel  that  the  girls  should  be  encouraged  to 
work  for  the  sake  of  the  activities  themselves  rather  than 
for  any  material  reward.  Other  Leaders  believe  that 
there  is  no  special  objection  to  prizes  if  they  are  made 
an  occasional  rather  than  a  frequent  stimulus  to  activity. 
A  Club  Leader  in  Worcester,  Mass.,  once  said  that  all 
individual  prizes  should  be  of  some  direct  and  lasting 
value  to  the  girls.  Accordingly,  she  selects  an  inexpen- 
sive print  of  some  good  picture,  which  can  be  hung  on 
the  wall  of  the  girl's  home,  to  be  a  constant  reminder 
to  her  and  to  her  family  of  the  Club  and  of  her  own 
happy  share  in  its  activities ;  or  a  pretty  brush  and  comb 
set  which,  as  she  says,  may  lead  to  a  greater  pride  in  a 
neat  appearance.  In  this  way,  even  the  prizes  of  a 
contest  may  be  made  a  means  of  service  to  the  girls. 

Pins,  appropriately  engraved  and  having  a  symbolic 
meaning,  make  excellent  awards  for  the  girls  to  keep. 
Their  owners  are  proud  to  w*ear  them.  Friends  ask, 
"Where  did  you  get  that  pretty  pin?"  The  girls  then 
explain  about  their  Club,  telling  where  it  is  and  what 
it  does — it  becomes  a  splendid  medium  of  personal  Club 
advertising.  The  Audubon  Club  of  Wisconsin  has,  at 
various  times,  successfully  used  the  plan  of  awarding 
an  Honor  Badge.  The  Club  member  who  each  month 
writes  the  best  letter  about  her  personal  experience  in 
looking  for  birds  is  awarded  the  Honor  Badge,  an  Audu- 
bon pin;  she  wears  the  pin  for  one  month,  returning  it 
at  the  end  of  that  time,  A  member  who  wins  the  pin 
three  times  keeps  it  permanently. 


KEEPING  UP  THE  INTEREST  299 

A  Leader  who  does  not  wish  to  give  personal  prizes 
in  a  contest  may  find  other  means  of  rewarding  the 
successful  ones.  For  instance,  a  framed  Honor  List  hung 
upon  the  wall  of  the  Club  room  often  arouses  the  desire 
of  the  members  to  see  their  names  posted.  In  one  Club 
places  on  the  Honor  List  are  awarded  annually,  each 
name  representing  success  in  some  Club  activity  or  in 
some  contest.  The  Honor  Lists  of  previous  years,  as 
well  as  the  current  roll,  are  framed  and  hung  upon  the 
wall  so  that  new  members  may  be  prompted  to  ask  about 
them,  and  become  interested  in  having  their  own  names 
appear  there. 

Another  source  of  continual  interest  in  Club  rooms 
is  the  silver  cup  engraved  with  the  name  of  the  member 
or  the  Club  which  has  won  a  contest.  Seeing  one's  name 
on  a  cup  has  a  certain  fascination  which  seems  never  to 
fade.  Such  a  cup,  prominently  displayed  in  a  glass  case, 
attracts  constant  attention.  The  Club  girls  pass  it  and 
speak  of  the  contest  of  which  it  is  a  trophy.  They  show 
it  to  visitors  and  explain  the  conditions  prerequisite  to 
winning  it.  If  it  is  the  reward  in  a  series  of  contests 
held  between  several  Clubs,  it  may  be  kept  in  the  posses- 
sion of  the  successful  Club  for  the  period  between  the 
contests  and  may  in  this  way  be  a  silent  incentive  to  the 
girls  to  "win  it  again/'  After  being  won  by  the  same 
Club  a  specified  number  of  times,  it  should  become  the 
permanent  possession  of  that  Club. 

Such  awards  as  these  stimulate  the  endeavors  of  the 
girls  and  give  public  recognition  to  success  in  their 
attainments,  without  individual  prizes.  In  any  case, 
moderation  should  be  exercised  $  too  much  recognition, 
too  many  awards,  may  arouse  the  conceit  of  the  girls  and 


300  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

so  harm  both  them  and  the  Club.  Awarding  the  prizes 
too  frequently  will  lower  their  value  in  the  girls'  eyes. 
But,  managed  with  discretion,  contests  and  rewards  are  an 
excellent  means  of  arousing  enthusiasm  and  fresh  in- 
terest. 

The  Value  of  Suspense.  The  Club  Leader  will  often 
find  that  it  is  not  wise  to  announce,  in  detail,  just  what 
the  rewards  of  a  contest  are  to  be.  Every  one  enjoys  a 
"surprise."  This  very  element  may  add  to  the  interest 
in  a  contest. 

A  Club  organizer  in  a  Sunday  School  once  promised  a 
special  reward  to  that  class  which,  at  the  end  of  a  certain 
number  of  weeks,  had  secured  the  largest  number  of  new 
members.  She  said  that  the  reward  would  be  something 
which  they  would  all  enjoy,  but  she  did  not  tell  them 
what  it  was  to  be.  A  visitor  inquired  the  reason. 

"Oh,"  answered  the  organizer,  "I  didn't  tell  them  be- 
cause I  don't  know  what  it  will  be  myself!  I'll  wait 
until  the  time  comes,  and  then  I'll  see  what  they  wish 
to  do  or  to  have.  Besides,  if  I  told  them  something 
definite  now,  it  would  be  an  old  story  by  the  time  the 
contest  is  over.  As  it  is,  we  are  all  happy  because  we 
are  working — in  suspense!" 

Another  Leader,  of  years'  experience,  once  found  in 
an  attic  the  poster  which  she  had  made  for  her  first 
Club  meeting.  On  one  side  was  printed  in  large  letters, 
"Surprise!  Surprise!"  On  the  reverse  side  was  written 
a  Club  song.  She  took  this  poster  to  a  fellow  Leader. 
"I  builded  better  than  I  knew,"  she  said,  "when  I  started 
out  by  taking  my  girls  by  surprise.  Half  the  spice  of 
life  lies  in  not  knowing  what  will  happen  next !" 


KEEPING  UP  THE  INTEREST  301 

This  element  of  suspense  may  be  introduced  judi- 
ciously into  much  of  the  Club  life  beside  contests.  A 
Leader  announces  that  she  will  have  a  surprise  for  the 
girls  at  the  next  meeting — something  new,  something 
which  they  have  never  had  before.  No,  she  won't  tell 
them  what  it  is — they  must  come  and  see  for  themselves. 
Perhaps  it  is  to  be  a  visitor  who  will  tell  stories  to  the 
Club,  or  a  new  game,  or  a  "treat."  Whatever  it  is,  the 
Leader  must  be  sure  to  make  the  heralded  attraction 
worth  while,  for  she  has  stimulated  the  curiosity  of  her 
girls.  The  value  of  this  plan  will  depend  on  how  con- 
fident the  girls  are  that  any  surprise  the  Leader  promises 
will  prove  worth  while. 


What  One  Contest  Accomplished 

She  was  Leader  of  several  Girls'  Clubs  whose  mem- 
bers were  fourteen,  fifteen,  and  sixteen  years  old.  Every 
week  the  girls  came  together  in  their  separate  Clubs  for 
singing,  games,  marching,  folk  dancing,  or  other  activities. 
Because  the  girls  in  all  the  Clubs  enjoyed  the  same  things 
and  were  of  the  same  age,  it  was  possible  for  the  Leader 
to  arouse  friendly  rivalry  between  them.  Each  week  the 
Clubs  were  rated,  that  Club  foremost  which  had  done 
the  best  work  in  its  meetings  and  had  showed  the  best 
Club  spirit — no  Club  that  had  wrangled  was  eligible  for 
honors!  This  leading  Club  had  its  banner  hung  in  the 
place  of  honor  over  the  piano,  and  was  given  a  gold  star 
on  the  Honor  Card.  In  time,  an  Inter-Club  contest  was 
announced,  with  the  following  points  to  be  taken  intp 
consideration : 


302  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

Inspection. 

Appearance 
Posture 

Club  Singing. 

Fancy  Marching. 

Folk  Dancing. 

The  Leader  talked  earnestly  with  the  girls  beforehand 
about  the  spirit  which  they  ought  to  show  in  the  contest. 
She  told  them  that  all  must  learn  to  accept  the  decision 
of  the  judges  and  to  be  glad  of  others'  success  even 
when  they  themselves  had  failed  to  win  first  place.  And 
she  urged  upon  them  to  restrain  their  joy  if  they  were 
successful,  thinking  of  those  who  had  tried  so  well  but 
had  lost. 

Excitement  ran  high.  The  day  of  the  contest  found 
every  Club  in  its  place.  The  contest  work  was  excellent. 
The  Leader  was  delighted.  The  Clubs  waited  in  suspense 
while  the  judges  conferred.  At  last  one  of  the  judges 
stepped  forward  and  announced  the  name  of  the  suc- 
cessful Club.  The  winners  burst  into  prolonged  applause 
— for  themselves !  The  other  Clubs  kept  a  sullen  silence, 
refusing  to  cheer  for  the  winners  even  when  the  Leader 
suggested  that  they  do  so.  She  was  chagrined. 

But  she  did  not  give  up  the  contest  idea.  Instead,  she 
formed  an  immediate  resolve  to  have  a  second  big  contest 
a  year  later  and  to  try  to  arouse  in  the  girls  a  proper 
spirit.  For  a  year,  through  the  games  and  other  small 
contests,  she  worked  to  bring  a  spirit  of  generous,  friendly 
competition  into  her  Clubs.  The  time  for  the  second 
contest  arrived.  The  eagerness  and  suspense  were  even 
greater  than  they  had  been  at  the  first  contest.  The 
went  through  the  contest  numbers  with  the  same 


KEEPING  UP  THE  INTEREST  303 

snap  and  deep  purpose.  The  judges  conferred  once  more. 
The  suspense  of  the  girls  was  no  greater  than  that  of  the 
Leader.  She,  however,  was  waiting  for  something  more 
than  the  decision!  The  head  judge  stepped  out  and  an- 
nounced the  name  of  the  winner.  Immediately  the  los- 
ing Clubs  burst  into  cheers  for  their  successful  rival — 
the  winning  Club  capped  this  with  applause  for  the 
losers — and  a  spirit  of  good  fellowship  was  apparent  on 
every  side.  The  Leader  could  scarcely  contain  her  joy: 
her  Clubs  had  learned  the  lessons  to  be  found  in  success 
and  in  defeat,  and  her  girls  had  proved  themselves  better 
able  to  go  out  in  a  world  where  competition  is  a  force, 
and  to  battle  with  its  problems. 


Keep  the  Club  Work  Before  the  Girls 

No  Club  should  miss  an  opportunity  to  remind  its  mem- 
bers that  it  is  "up  and  doing."  Bulletin  boards,  notices, 
printed  reports — all  these  keep  the  girls  in  touch  with 
all  Club  activities  and  tell  them  that  their  organization  is 
flourishing.  In  a  large  Club  this  is  especially  necessary. 
The  smaller  groups  interested  in  sewing  and  knitting  will 
never  know  that  the  basketball  team  is  to  play  an  im- 
portant match  game  unless  they  are  notified  about  it.  As 
is  often  the  case,  the  sewers  and  knitters  may  enjoy  watch- 
ing a  basketball  game  very  much  indeed  although  they 
do  not  care  to  play  in  it. 

The  Bulletin  Board  may  be  an  important  factor.  In- 
deed, no  progressive  Club  should  be  without  one.  It 
should  be  placed  in  so  prominent  a  place  that  "he  who 
runs  may  read,"  and  should  bear  special  notices  for  the 


304 


GIRLS'  CLUBS 


members.  Here  may  be  displayed  the  pretty  posters  which 
announce  special  events.  The  Current  Events  girls  may 
be  given  a  certain  place  upon  it  where  they  may  post 
newspaper  clippings  of  vital  importance.  The  silent  work 
of  the  Bulletin  Board  goes  on  whenever  a  girl  pauses 
before  it.  Jane  Jones,  on  coming  into  the  Club-house, 
reads  an  attractive  notice  about  the  class  in  Literature. 
She  enjoys  reading.  She  wonders  whether  she  may  join. 
She  goes  to  the  Club  Leader  and  receives  a  cordial  in- 
vitation to  attend  the  class. 

A  Bulletin  Board  need  not  be  elaborate.  The  cover 
of  a  wooden  box,  painted  in  some  dark  color  and  hung 
in  a  conspicuous  place,  will  serve  the  desired  purpose. 
Even  a  large  sheet  of  cardboard  or  blotting  paper  will 
make  a  useful  background  for  notices  and  clippings.  A 
blackboard  is  a  most  effective  means  for  conveying  cur- 
rent announcements,  and  it  has  one  special  advantage: 
a  Leader  can  easily  change  the  announcements  every  day 
if  she  so  wishes. 

"The  Latest  Books,"  she  may  write  one  day,  "Ten 
of  the  newest  are  in  the  Library  to-day.  Come  in!" 

The  next  day  this  notice  may  be  erased  and  another 
written,  in  large  letters : 


•  "Who  will  HIKE? 

We  will ! 

Saturday — 2  p.  M. 

Start  from  the  Club. 

Come  one!     Come  all! 

Where? 
To  the  Firemen's  Park." 


KEEPING  UP  THE  INTEREST  305 

In  case  the  Bulletin-Board  idea  is  new  to  her  girls, 
a  Leader  will  sometimes  find  it  necessary  to  train  them 
in  constantly  watching  it.  This  is  easily  accomplished 
by  putting  important  announcements  upon  it  and  by 
referring  the  girls  to  it.  As  soon  as  they  realize  that 
the  bulletin  board  tells  them  things  about  their  Club  which 
they  wish  to  know,  they  will  automatically  stop  to  read 
the  posted  notices  upon  entering  the  Club  room. 

Every  girl  enjoys  receiving  through  the  mail  formal 
notices  about  her  Club.  A  clever  use  of  this  method 
will  keep  the  girl  in  touch  with  what  the  Club  is  doing 
and  arouse  her  curiosity  about  coming  events.  The  suc- 
cess of  written  or  printed  notices  depends  largely  on 
the  way  in  which  the  material  is  written  up.  Stereotyped 
announcements,  with  little  variation  from  week  to  week, 
will  not  arouse  such  interest  and  enthusiasm  as  will  notes 
like  the  following,  sent  out  from  a  Nebraska  Girls'  Club 
to  its  members: 


Come  on,  girls,  hit  the  pike! 

Be  ready  at  five  (A.  M.)  for  a  Jitney  Hike. 

Wear  a  middy  and  bring  a  stick, 

Meet  at  M.  E.  church,  and  come  double  quick. 

July  22,  next  Saturday,  heed ! 

Bring  twenty-five  cents  for  a  good  old  feed. 


Many  Leaders  effectively  use  the  plan  of  distributing 
small  printed  announcements,  telling  of  the  Club  work. 
One  Leader  often  gives  out  this  printed  slip  at  the  close 
of  a  Club  party: 


306  GIRLS'  CLUBS 


Come  again 

to  the 

Gamma  Girls'  Club. 
We  welcome  our  friends 
We  welcome  new  members 
Tell  anyone  who  asks  you  that 
"We  are  the  girls  of  the  G.  G.  C. 
We  dance  and  play  right  merrily, 
And  many  things  we  learn  to  do, 
Don't  you  think  it's  the  Club  for  YOU?' 


In  many  communities,  the  local  newspapers  are  glad 
to  print  notices  of  coming  Club  events,  or  the  stories  of 
successful  hikes,  parties,  or  contests.  The  Leader  who 
makes  a  special  effort  to  secure  such  publicity  soon  finds 
that  her  Club  activities  are  a  matter  of  community  as 
well  as  of  Club  interest.  Such  notices  should  always  be 
made  as  interesting  as  possible.  The  problem  before  the 
Leader  is  the  same  as  that  which  confronts  the  advertiser. 
The  latter  has  certain  facts  which  he  must  so  present 
that  the  public  will  be  interested  in  reading  them.  So 
with  Club  notices — write  them  so  that  everyone  will  be 
interested  in  reading  them. 

Posters.  Almost  every  girl  will  stop  to  read  an  at- 
tractive poster,  especially  when  there  is  a  picture  on  it. 
If  some  of  the  Club  members  have  artistic  ability,  the 
making  of  posters  for  the  Club  gives  them  an  opportunity 
to  be  of  real  service  as  well  as  to  exercise  their  talents. 
But  even  in  a  Club  where  neither  the  Leader  nor  the 
members  are  gifted  in  this  way,  posters  may  be  easily 
made.  Appropriate  pictures  are  to  be  found  in  many 


KEEPING  UP  THE  INTEREST  307 

magazines.  Colored  covers  are  often  useful.  A  stencil 
set  of  letters  may  be  purchased  for  a  small  sum.  These, 
with  brush  and  ink  and  cardboard,  furnish  the  tools. 

When  an  important  Club  event  is  scheduled  and  the 
Leader  wishes  to  obtain  a  number  of  posters,  a  poster 
contest  will  often  give  her  all  the  material  she  needs. 
She  announces  to  her  girls  that  a  prize  will  be  awarded 
for  the  best  poster  made,  telling  them  the  information 
which  must  be  on  each,  and  setting  a  date  on  which  they 
must  submit  their  efforts.  The  girls  work  on  the  posters 
at  home,  and  their  families  and  friends,  interested. in  the 
work,  hear  more  about  the  Club  affair  than  they  would 
from  a  mere  announcement,  so  that  the  contest  itself 
gives  the  entertainment  further  publicity. 

In  connection  with  a  campaign  for  Food  Conservation, 
the  Leader  of  a  large  Club  gave  her  girls  a  list  of  funda- 
mental facts  concerning  food  to  be  worked  into  posters. 
The  result  showed  that  the  members  had  indeed  digested 
the  necessary  information! 


Eat  Fish! 
Get  in  the  Swim! 

Why? 

The  U.  S.  Government  experts  tell  us  that 
Fish  is  a  Valuable  Food. 


As  a  result  of  this  work,  the  Club  had  a  splendid  ex- 
hibit of  posters  and  the  girls  who  made  them  gained  a 


308  GIRLS'  CLUBS 


knowledge  of  food  which  could  have  been  given  them 
in  no  better  way. 


The  Printed  Report  is  Most  Effective 

If  there  is  enough  in  the  Club  treasury  to  cover 
the  expense  of  a  printed  report,  by  all  means  have 
one.  It  may  not  be  long,  nor  elaborate;  but  if  it  is 
printed,  it  will  be  looked  upon  with  pride  by  all  the  Club 
members.  A  printed  report  can  be  carried  home  to  show 
parents  and  friends.  Being  on  a  committee  is  of  greater 
importance  in  the  eyes  of  a  member  when  she  sees  her 
name  in  the  printed  report.  The  girls  will  read  with 
eager  interest  the  story  of  their  work  during  the  year,  now 
possessed  of  added  magnitude  because  they  have  seen  it 
in  print. 

Every  effort  should  be  made  to  have  a  report  which 
everyone  will  enjoy  reading.  Pages  of  statistics  will  not 
hold  the  attention  of  the  average  reader.  A  report  should 
reflect  the  spirit  and  the  real  life  of  the  Club.  Reports 
of  Club  events,  written  by  the  girls  themselves  under  the 
supervision  of  the  Leader,  will  give  spice  to  the  whole. 
Pictures  scattered  through  the  pages  of  reading  matter 
will  attract  special  attention  and  often  so  arouse  the  in- 
terest of  the  casual  reader  that  he  will  eagerly  read 
every  bit  of  the  report. 

If  little  money  is  available  for  the  printing,  the  out- 
standing facts  concerning  the  Club  may  be  attractively 
worded  and  set  forth.  The  following  is  a  page  from  a 
report  of  the  West  Side  Branch  of  the  New  York  City 
Young  Women's  Christian  Association: 


KEEPING  UP  THE  INTEREST  309 

STUDY,  FUN  AND  FELLOWSHIP  AT  NOON 
AND  NIGHT 

Eleven  self-governing  clubs  in  the  Industrial 
Extension  department  held  300  meetings 
last  year  with  a  total  attendance  of  .  .  4,487 

Club  Classes  in  First  Aid  to  thejnjured,  First 
Aid  to  Beauty,  Embroidery,  Cooking,  Fancy 
Dancing,  Business  Efficiency,  Women  of 
Yesterday  and  To-day. 

Total  attendance  at  club  meetings,  classes  and 

recreation 2,743 

Club  Members  have  attended  popular  talks  on 
Safety  First,  Fire  Prevention,  The  Eight- 
Hour  Day,  Woman  Suffrage,  Anti-Suffrage, 
Minimum  Wage,  Dramatic  Expression. 

The  Dental  Clinic  under  the  direction  of  the 
Club  Council  has  been  open  32  evenings. 
Number  of  appointments 344 

A  Free  Employment  Bureau  for  women  and 
girls  co-operating  with  the  Municipal  Employ- 
ment Bureau  is  carried  on  by  volunteers. 

Noon  Meetings  in  Factories  and  Laundries 
with  Recreation  and  Educational  programs. 
Attendance  for  year 12,812 

AFTER  SCHOOL-WHAT  THEN? 
Nine  Clubs  for  girls  from  12  to  1 6  years.  Classes 
in  Sewing,  Gymnasium,  and  Homemaking. 
Dancing,  Game  Hours  and  Dramatics.  Study 
Recreation  in  Swimming,  Roller  Skating, 
hours  for  school  lessons — Total  for  year — 
637  meetings  with  an  attendance  of  .  .  10,125 


3io  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

BLOOMERS  AND  BASEBALL  BATS 

75°  girl3  enrolled  in  Gymnasium  classes. 

350  other  girls  have  enjoyed  themselves  at 
Bowling,  Roller  Skating,  Saturday  Night 
Dances,  Tennis,  Yard  Games,  Hikes  and 
Picnics. 

Total  attendance  for  the  year      ....  17,068 

SPLASHES  AND  SMILES 

850    girls    have    learned    to    swim  this   year. 

Average  monthly  attendance  has  increased 

from  i, 600  to  1,900. 
Swimming  Pool  Club  has  been  formed,  and 

awards  emblems  for  proficiency  in  various 

strokes  and  diving. 
Total  attendance  for  all  plunges,  lessons,  etc.,  25,126 

SUCH  GOOD  SOUPS  AND  SALADS 

45,203  persons  were  served  in  the  Cafeteria 
Lunch  Room,  the  average  meal  costing  20 
cents. 

THIRTY-FIVE  GIRLS 

IN  A  COMFORTABLE  HOME 

They  pay  from  $4.25  to  £6.00  per  week  for 

room  and  board. 
75  girls  have  lived  in  the  Boarding  Home  as 

permanent  residents  this  year  and  106  more 

were  accommodated  as  transients.    There  is 

always  a  waiting  list. 

Total  attendance  at  activities  and 
calls  at  West  Side  Branch  for  the 
year  1916  ....  151,359 


KEEPING  UP  THE  INTEREST  311 

How  to  Run  a  Club  Paper 

It  often  happens  that  Club  girls  will  be  interested  in 
getting  out  a  paper  of  their  own.  Not  every  Club  can 
afford  to  have  its  paper  printed.  But  any  Club  that 
wishes  to  may  add  the  writing  of  a  Club  paper  to  its 
activities.  An  editorial  staff  may  be  appointed,  and  re- 
porters chosen,  who  follow  the  activities  of  the  Club  and 
write  stories  "covering"  them.  Club  news,  local  jokes, 
special  stories,  cartoons — the  paper  may  have  space  for 
all  of  these,  and  thus  afford  an  outlet  for  many  talents. 

Close  cooperation  between  the  Leader  and  the  editorial 
staff  will  in  most  cases  be  necessary  to  hold  the  paper 
to  a  high  standard.  Too  many  papers  of  this  kind  have 
come  to  grief  because  the  staff  has  promptly  turned  the 
organ  into  a  paper  of  personal  jokes,  some  of  question- 
able character.  The  advice  of  the  Leader,  however,  will 
serve  to  steady  its  ideas  and  her  more  mature  suggestions 
will  open  up  new  fields  to  the  busy  writers. 

If  the  paper  is  not  printed,  the  reading  of  it  may  be 
made  a  special  Club  event.  Once  a  month,  at  a  special 
business  meeting,  or  every  two  weeks,  the  Editor  may 
read  the  results  of  their  combined  efforts.  The  Leader 
will  find  it  wise  not  to  have  too  frequent  issues.  For  a 
great  deal  of  effort  is  necessary  to  make  such  a  paper, 
however  simple,  really  worth  while,  and  when  it  appears 
too  frequently,  this  effort  becomes  a  burden  and  the  girls 
soon  tire  of  it.  But  if  the  number  of  issues  is  reason- 
ably limited,  the  work  is  a  pleasure,  and  the  reading  of 
it  an  event  toward  which  the  Club  girls  look  forward 
eagerly.  As  they  hear  the  story  of  their  party  held  two 
weeks  before,  the  Club  members  enjoy  again  the  fun  and 


3i2  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

the  merriment  of  that  evening.  As  the  story  of  the  last 
picnic  (written  in  poetry)  is  read,  the  girls  feel  again 
the  thrill  of  the  walk  and  the  delicious  flavor  of  those 
"hot  dogs."  They  laugh  heartily  at  the  friendly  jokes 
on  themselves.  The  Club  paper  is  the  mirror  which  re- 
flects in  their  Club  meetings  the  happy  times  of  other 
days. 

Make  the  Club  Room  a  Center 

The  Club  room  itself — if  there  be  one — should  breathe 
the  spirit  of  the  organization.  It  should  be  so  bright  and 
cheery  that  the  girls  will  enjoy  coming  to  it,  and  so  full  of 
Club  interest  that  they  will  find  something  there  for 
them  even  when  they  come  alone.  Pictures,  plants,  pen- 
nants, magazines,  books — such  things  as  these  help  to 
make  the  room  a  center  to  which  the  girls  will  naturally 
come.  A  Club  in  New  York  City  kept  one  idea  before 
them  in  furnishing  their  House :  to  make  the  rooms  sug- 
gestive and  helpful  to  those  Club  members  who  in  the 
future  should  come  to  plan  homes  of  their  own.  Simple, 
dark-stained  Mission  furniture  was  selected.  The  walls 
and  the  carpet  were  a  dull,  restful  shade  of  green.  Fresh 
plants  stood  here  and  there  on  tables.  The  pictures  on 
the  walls  were  inexpensive  prints  of  the  work  of  good 
artists.  The  Leader  found  that  the  girls  were  most  in- 
terested in  those  pictures  which  had  stories  connected 
with  them.  Especially  popular  was  Taylor's  "Children's 
Hour."  Whenever  a  group  of  girls  gathered  admiringly 
before  this  picture,  the  Leader  would  at  once  seize  the 
opportunity  to  tell  them  about  Longfellow  and  his  poem. 
Often  she  would  finish  her  story  with,  "Won't  you  come 
put  to  the  Library  and  get  the  book?" 


KEEPING  UP  THE  INTEREST  313 

In  this  Club,  pennants  add  brightness  and  color  to  the 
rooms.  Magazines  and  newspapers,  of  the  best  kind, 
offer  an  inducement  to  the  girl  who  likes  to  read  to  come 
early  before  the  meeting  and  enjoy  them. 

About  this  Club  House,  a  Club  member  once  wrote  the 
following  song: 

"There  are  chairs,  there  are  carpets  on  the  floor, 
There's  a  lunch,  that  always  tastes  like  more! 
There's  a  bird  in  a  cage,  and  he'll  surely  sing  to  you. 
There's  a  piano  on  the  second  and  the  top  floor,  too. 

There  are  books,  there  are  pictures  on  the  wall, 

There  are  girls,  that  range  from  large  to  small. 

All  these  sights  and  these  sounds  can  be  seen  and  heard — 
they  can — 

But  not  a  man!    No,  not  a  man! 

Everything  is  there  except  a  man!" 

The  very  atmosphere  of  a  bright,  pretty  and  attractive 
Club  room  welcomes  and  cheers  the  girls.  It  is  not  diffi- 
cult to  create  this  atmosphere,  even  where  funds  are 
limited.  Pretty  pictures,  cut  from  magazines,  will 
brighten  the  walls.  Plants  can  be  kept  growing  in  painted 
wooden  boxes  of  the  simplest  kind.  The  girls  them- 
selves will  enjoy  helping  in  the  care  of  them;  a  Room 
Committee  will  take  great  pride  in  watering  the  plants  and 
in  making  little  additions  to  the  room  which  add  to  its 
attractiveness.  In  a  Philadelphia  Sunday  School,  whose 
departments  are  organized  separately,  the  young  people 
vie  with  each  other  in  the  work  upon  their  rooms.  In  one 
department,  each  graduating  class  makes  a  model  exhibit 
upon  some  Biblical  subject,  permanent  in  form  and  given 
to  the  room,  so  that  now  it  boasts  many  glass  cases  con- 
taining exhibits  of  dolls  dressed  in  Oriental  costumes,  or 


3H  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

clay  models  of  Oriental  houses,  sheepfolds,  and  temples. 
Who  would  dare  say  that  this  room  is  not  a  more  vital 
factor  in  the  lives  of  the  young  people  than  a  bare  room 
would  be,  furnished  chiefly  by  row  after  row  of  stiff, 
straight  chairs? 

Keeping  the  Interest  of  the  Girls 

In  such  ways  as  these  the  girls  are  made  to  feel  a 
continually  fresh  interest  in  their  Club.  When  they  are 
discouraged,  they  come  to  their  Club  and  find  happy 
comrades  and  interesting  activities.  The  spirit  of  their 
Club  is  one  of  action — cheerful,  useful  action.  This 
draws  them  back  to  the  next  meeting,  and  the  next,  and 
the  next.  Their  Club  has  stood  the  test. 


CHAPTER  XIII 
THE  CLUB  IN  ACTION 

A  Club  Girl  Herself 

HER  name  was  Camilla  Bucciccio  and  she  was  just 
sixteen  years  old.  Her  parents  had  come  over  from  Italy 
when  Camilla  was  ten  and  had  settled  in  a  crowded  part 
of  one  of  the  large  American  cities.  Camilla  had  gone 
to  school  ever  since  coming  to  America,  but  now,  her 
father  said,  she  must  go  to  work.  Camilla  liked  school 
and  she  didn't  want  to  stop.  But  her  father  said  that  was 
what  she  must  do,  so  there  was  no  question. 

Mrs.  DePaulo,  across  the  hall,  had  a  daughter  who 
worked  in  a  lace  factory.  Camilla's  mother  could  make 
lace  and  so  could  her  grandmother.  So,  when  it  came 
time  for  Camilla  to  go  to  work,  she  went  with  Anna 
DePaulo  to  the  lace  factory.  Camilla's  father  and 
mother  didn't  ask  their  daughter  whether  she  wished 
to  make  lace.  They  told  her  to  go  and  she  went.  Anna 
took  her  to  the  place  and  brought  her  home.  Camilla's 
father  and  mother  would  not  allow  their  daughter  to 
wander  about  the  streets  alone.  Girls  in  Italy  did  not 
do  that. 

The  first  few  days  were  full  of  excitement  to  Camilla 
on  the  street-car,  seeing  the  girls  in  the  factory, 


3i6  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

learning  how  to  run  the  machine.  But  in  a  week  or  so, 
Camilla  began  to  miss  the  school  very  much  indeed.  Her 
teacher  had  always  given  her  a  pleasant  good-morn- 
ing smile.  Here  the  forelady  was  stern  and  was  always 
too  busy  to  notice  the  girls  when  they  came  in.  At  the 
school,  they  had  sung  songs,  done  gymnastics,  and  learned 
so  many  interesting  things.  Here  she  sat  all  day  in 
front  of  a  machine,  doing  the  same  thing,  over  and 
over  again.  There  was  no  time  to  talk  or  sing.  At  the 
lunch  hour,  Camilla  and  the  other  girls  ate  their  lunches 
in  the  same  room  where  they  worked.  Some  days,  they 
put  on  their  hats  and  coats  and  went  out  for  a  walk. 
But  the  streets  nearby  were  crowded  and  very  often  the 
young  men  on  the  corners  whistled  and  called  after  them. 
Camilla  was  afraid  of  these  young  men.  She  did  not 
like  the  things  they  said. 

One  day,  during  the  lunch  hour,  something  happened. 
The  girls  had  just  finished  their  lunch  when  the  door 
opened  and  in  came  the  Boss  with  a  pretty  young  woman. 
The  girls  liked  this  young  woman  at  once.  Her  smile 
was  so  friendly. 

Then  the  Boss  explained  that  the  young  woman,  whose 
name  was  Miss  Martin,  had  something  to  tell  them.  The 
girls  listened  eagerly  while  Miss  Martin  told  them  all 
about  a  new  plan.  Right  around  the  corner,  in  a  build- 
ing which  they  passed  every  day,  there  was  going  to 
be  a  Club-house  for  them.  There  would  be  a  room 
where  they  could  eat  their  lunches  and  buy  a  glass  of 
milk  or  other  things.  And  there  would  be  another  room, 
with  a  piano,  where  they  could  sing  and  dance.  The  very 
next  day  there  was  to  be  a  party  there  at  lunch  time. 
Miss  Martin  gave  each  girl  an  invitation,  written  on  a 


THE  CLUB  IN  ACTION  317 

pretty  card.  They  wouldn't  need  to  bring  their  own 
lunches,  she  said — everything  would  be  served  at  the 
party. 

Miss  Martin  showed  them  some  pictures  of  other 
Girls'  Clubs.  All  the  girls  in  them  seemed  to  be  having 
such  fun.  Miss  Martin  said  they  could  have  a  Club  every 
bit  as  nice  as  these.  Camilla  looked  eagerly  at  the 
pictures  when  they  were  passed  to  her. 

Next  day,  the  girls  could  scarcely  wait  for  lunch  time. 
All  morning  as  she  worked  at  her  machine,  Camilla 
hummed  a  little  song  under  her  breath.  She  felt  happier 
than  at  any  time  since  she  had  come  to  the  factory.  Some- 
thing was  going  to  happen.  When,  at  lunch  time,  they  went 
to  the  pretty  Club  room,  there  were  books  and  magazines 
and  pictures  and  flowers,  and  they  ate  the  delicious  lunch, 
and  Camilla  was  happier  than  ever.  After  lunch,  they 
sang  and  played  games.  Miss  Martin  told  them  that  the 
rooms  were  theirs;  they  could  come  to  them  every  day 
and  have  a  real  Club  just  like  those  the  other  girls  had. 
All  the  girls  said  that  they  would  come.  Their  lunch 
hour  had  never  seemed  so  short  as  it  did  that  day! 

As  the  weeks  passed  by,  Camilla  was  elected  Secretary 
of  the  Club.  Miss  Martin  showed  her  how  to  write  the 
records  and  Camilla  took  great  pride  in  her  "minutes" 
book.  Every  week,  Camilla  took  a  book  from  the  Club 
Library.  Miss  Martin  chose  them  for  her  and  Camilla 
read  eagerly.  She  would  have  taken  out  more  than  just 
one  a  week,  but  that  Miss  Martin  told  her  it  was  better 
for  a  girl  to  read  fewer  books  and  to  remember  what 
she  read.  So  Camilla  read  just  one  book  a  week,  and 
when  she  brought  each  one  back,  Miss  Martin  would  ask 
her  about  it.  Camilla's  dark  eyes  would  glow  and  she 


318  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

would  tell  Miss  Martin  what  was  in  the  book  and  just 
which  part  she  had  liked  best. 

One  day,  Miss  Martin  stopped  her,  as  she  went  by 
the  Library  desk.  "Come  here,  Camilla,"  she  called, 
"I  want  to  see  you." 

Camilla  walked  eagerly  to  the  desk.  All  the  girls  liked 
to  talk  to  Miss  Martin.  "Camilla,  dear,"  said  Miss 
Martin,  "I  have  just  been  going  over  your  Club  book. 
It  is  beautifully  written  and  the  way  you  have  told 
everything  is  very  good  indeed." 

Camilla  smiled  with  pleasure.  She  liked  to  have  Miss 
Martin  say  nice  things  to  her. 

"When  you  went  to  school,  what  part  of  it  did  you 
like  best?"  asked  Miss  Martin. 

"The  reading,"  said  Camilla,  promptly,  "and  the 
writing." 

"How  do  you  like  your  work  at  the  factory?"  Miss 
Martin  then  asked. 

Camilla  hesitated.  Then  she  said,  "Sometimes  I  get 
tired.  It  is  just  the  same  every  day." 

Miss  Martin  looked  keenly  at  Camilla.  She  had  an 
idea,  but  she  wished  to  think  about  it  a  little  more. 
"Come  to  see  me  to-morrow,"  she  said,  and  Camilla 
promised  that  she  would. 

That  afternoon,  Miss  Martin  went  over  to  the  factory 
to  talk  with  the  Boss.  She  spoke  of  several  of  the  girls, 
then  asked  about  Camilla. 

"How  is  she  doing?"  she  asked. 

The  Boss  slowly  shook  his  head. 

"She  isn't  quick,"  he  answered.  "She  tries  hard,  but 
she's  not  a  natural-born  operator.  She's  better  than 
some,  though,  and  she's  a  nice  girl." 


(Photo  by  Howard  Cox) 

A  PLEASANT  LUNCH  HOUR  IN  THE  NATIONAL  CLOAK  &  SUIT  COMPANY, 
NEW  YORK  CITY 


(Photo  by  Press  Illustrating  Service) 

THE  LIBRARY  AT  LUNCH  HOUR 

The  National  Cloak  &  Suit  Company.  New  York  City 


THE  CLUB  IN  ACTION  319 

That  evening,  Miss  Martin  thought  a  great  deal  about 
Camilla.  Then  she  went  over  to  see  a  friend  who  was 
very  much  interested  in  helping  young  girls.  Next  day, 
when  Camilla  came  in,  Miss  Martin  was  waiting  for  her. 

"Camilla,"  she  said,"  when  you  stopped  school,  what 
did  your  father  say?" 

"He  said  it  was  time  for  me  to  go  to  work.  Anna 
DePaulo  was  making  good  money  and  he  said  I  should, 
too." 

"How  did  you  happen  to  go  to  the  lace  factory?" 

"Anna  worked  there,  and  so  he  said  I  should,  too." 

"How  would  your  father  like  it  if  you  could  earn 
more  money?"  asked  Miss  Martin. 

"Oh,  yes,  ma'am,  he'd  like  it,"  answered  Camilla. 
"But  you  can't  earn  so  much  over  at  the  factory." 

Then  Miss  Martin  told  Camilla  about  other  girls  she 
knew  who  had  studied  at  evening  school  and  learned  how 
to  write  letters  and  to  use  a  typewriter.  And  after  they 
had  studied  hard  they  had  gotten  positions  in  offices. 
Miss  Martin  told  Camilla  about  office  work  and  what 
the  girls  did  in  positions  such  as  that. 

"I  know  a  school  where  you  could  go  in  the  evening," 
went  on  Miss  Martin,  "A  friend  of  mine  teaches  there. 
And  you  could  learn  to  do  office  work.  Would  you 
like  to?" 

"Oh,  yes,"  said  Camilla,  eagerly.  Then  she  hesitated. 
"But  I  couldn't— not  at  night." 

Miss  Martin  guessed  the  cause  of  Camilla's  hesitation. 

"Would  you  like  to  have  me  come  to  see  your  father 
and  mother  and  tell  them  all  about  it?"  she  asked, 
quickly. 

"Oh,  yes,"  said  Camilla,  and  sp  it  was  arranged. 


320  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

Miss  Martin  went  to  see  Camilla's  father  and  mother. 
They  had  heard  about  her  and  the  Club,  and  were  greatly 
pleased  to  have  the  Club  Lady  call  upon  them.  Miss 
Martin  laid  before  them  the  matter  of  the  evening  school, 
emphasizing  the  benefit  it  would  be  to  Camilla.  She  told 
them  of  the  position  which  Camilla  could  get  when  she 
had  had  more  training.  And  finally  she  won  their  con- 
sent to  the  plan.  She  herself  took  Camilla  the  first  even- 
ing and  talked  with  the  teachers. 

"She  seems  to  have  a  natural  bent  for  writing/'  ex- 
plained Miss  Martin,  "and  she's  very  much  in  earnest." 

Week  after  week,  Camilla  studied  at  night  school.  At 
lunch  hour,  she  went  to  the  Club  with  the  other  girls  for 
a  good  time.  She  often  stopped  to  tell  Miss  Martin  how 
she  was  getting  along.  Some  days,  she  took  her  school 
books  to  the  Club  to  do  a  little  studying.  Miss  Martin 
was  always  eager  to  see  the  books  and  to  hear  all  about 
the  work. 

It  wasn't  all  done  in  a  minute  and  it  wasn't  all  easy, 
this  evening  school  course.  There  were  many  times  when 
Camilla  got  discouraged  and  thought  she  would  stop. 
But  Miss  Martin  always  seemed  to  know  those  times 
and  she  would  call  Camilla  to  her,  talking  with  her  and 
telling  her  stories  of  other  girls  who  had  done  what  she 
was  doing.  So  Camilla  persisted  for  several  years,  and 
at  last  won  the  cherished  certificate.  When  she  had  fin- 
ished, it  just  happened  that  Miss  Martin  knew  a  man 
who  wanted  a  girl  to  work  in  his  office.  Camilla  went 
to  him  and  he  engaged  her.  Smiling  and  happy,  she  went 
to  her  work  that  first  morning.  She  was  a  very  neat 
business  girl,  too,  for  she  wore  a  black  skirt  which  Miss 
Martin  had  given  her  and  a  waist  of  the  kind  which 


THE  CLUB  IN  ACTION  321 

Miss  Martin  had  said  girls  who  work  in  offices  should 
wear. 

"Camilla,"  she  said,  "when  you  stopped  school,  what 
—her  early  training  and  her  lack  of  opportunity  had 
given  little  room  for  that.  But  she  has  steadily  increased 
in  her  business  ability  and  is  an  earnest  worker,  well 
above  the  average  office  girl.  Miss  Martin's  keen  in- 
sight and  help  changed  Camilla  from  a  mediocre  ma- 
chine-operator to  a  good  office-worker — what  she  was 
naturally  fitted  to  be.  Through  the  little  lunch-hour 
Club  Miss  Martin  had  found  the  opportunity  to  help 
Camilla. 

Nor  is  Camilla's  story  unusual.  There  are  many  girls 
to-day  who  have  found  in  their  Clubs  and  in  the  friend- 
ship of  their  Club  Leader  just  the  inspiration  which  was 
needed  to  arouse  their  ambition. 


A  Question  of  Discipline:  A  Club  Episode 

It  was  after  Club  meeting  and  the  girls  were  all  to- 
gether in  the  big  recreation  room.  One  of  the  Club  mem- 
bers was  seated  at  the  piano,  pounding  out  the  measures 
of  the  latest  "Rag."  The  girls  were  singing  and  danc- 
ing. Many  were  holding  their  partners  in  a  "death 
grip."  As  the  pianist  continued,  the  girls  danced  faster 
and  faster.  The  atmosphere  in  the  Club  room  was 
undoubtedly  becoming  more  and  more  "tough."  Miss 
Johnson,  the  Leader,  suddenly  appeared  in  the  doorway. 
The  riotous  dancers  swept  by  her,  engrossed  in  the  step 
variations  of  the  "latest." 

Miss  Johnson  sighed.    Yes,  the  time  had  come.     She 


322  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

walked  into  the  center  of  the  room  and  signaled  for  the 
pianist  to  stop. 

"Girls,"  she  said,  and  the  Club  members  gathered 
around  her. 

"Girls,"  she  went  on,  "this  recreation  room  has  been 
given  us  as  a  place  where  we  may  have  fun.  But  there 
has  always  been  the  understanding  that  we  will  act  as 
ladies  while  we  are  here.  Many  of  you  have  not  been 
dancing  as  ladies  should.  It  is  not  ladylike  to  hold  your 
partner  like  this — or  like  this."  And  Miss  Johnson 
illustrated  the  positions  which  she  knew  so  well  and 
which  she  had  come  to  heartily  dislike.  "We  cannot 
have  dancing  such  as  that  here.  If  you  cannot  dance 
as  ladies  should,"  Miss  Johnson  paused,  to  emphasize  the 
penalty  she  was  about  to  impose,  "if  you  cannot  dance 
as  ladies  should,  we  will  stop  all  dancing  in  the  Recrea- 
tion Room.  No  one  will  be  permitted  to  dance.  There 
are  many  of  the  girls  who  do  dance  in  a  ladylike  man- 
ner. It  is  too  bad  to  make  them  suffer,  too.  But  it  must 
be  done.  I  leave  the  choice  in  your  hands — dance  nicely 
and  dance  all  you  wish,  or  dance  in  a  way  you  should 
not  and  close  the  hall." 

Miss  Johnson  turned  and  walked  from  the  room. 

"Try  a  waltz,  Jennie,"  called  one  of  the  girls,  "that's 
slow." 

The  girls  started  to  dance  once  more.  With  the  best 
of  intentions,  the  members  took  good,  ladylike  positions, 
and  started  a  dreamy  waltz.  The  next  dance  was  a 
one-step,  a  trifle  faster;  the  next,  a  Fox  Trot,  a  trifle 
faster  still.  Faster  and  faster  each  dance  was  played. 
Less  and  less  desirable  became  the  positions  of  the 
dancers. 


THE  CLUB  IN  ACTION  323 

From  her  own  room  across  the  hall,  Miss  Johnson 
could  see  what  was  happening — and  sighed.  The  dis- 
agreeable task  which  she  has  hoped  to  avoid  was  surely 
before  her.  She  would  have  to  do  it. 

But  in  the  Recreation  Room,  several  of  the  Club  girls 
also  realized  what  was  happening.  They  were  talking 
together,  at  one  end  of  the  room.  One  girl,  with  flash- 
ing eyes,  was  gesticulating  impatiently.  Suddenly,  she 
pushed  a  chair  out  into  the  middle  of  the  floor  and 
climbed  up  upon  it. 

"Stop,"  she  called  to  the  pianist,  "I  want  to  talk. 
Come  here,  all  of  you,"  she  called  to  the  dancers,  "and 
listen.  I'm  President  of  this  Club,"  she  went  on,  "and 
I've  just  been  talking  to  the  other  officers  back  there. 
We  want  to  tell  you  that  we  won't  stand  for  having 
this  Recreation  Room  closed  just  because  some  of  you 
haven't  got  sense  enough  to  stop  being  tough  when  Miss 
Johnson's  told  you  to.  Now,  cut  it  out,"  she  concluded, 
"or  we'll  put  those  who  do  it  right  out  of  the  Club.  It 
would  be  a  nice  thing  for  our  Club,  wouldn't  it,  if  those 
other  Clubs  could  say  we  had  to  be  closed  on  account  of 
being  tough  ?  Nice  thing,  wouldn't  it  ?" 

The  Club  members  were  silent  before  their  President, 
for  a  moment.  Then  a  red-haired  girl  in  the  front  row 
spoke  up. 

"Tough,  is  it?  Not  on  your  life!  It's  slow.  It's  so 
slow  here  a  person  could  go  to  sleep  standing  up !  Come 
on,  bunch,  let's  go  out  to  the  movies  where  there's  some- 
thing doing !"  The  crowd  wavered.  Maggie  Moran,  the 
red-haired  one,  had  many  admirers.  "Come  on!"  she 
called,  and  started  toward  the  door. 

"All  right,"  called  the  President,  clearly.     "Go  on— 


324  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

and  anyone  who  wants  to,  go  too.  But  just  remember 
that  those  that  do  go  have  a  fine  chance  of  getting  back 
into  our  Club.  Take  the  movies  if  you  want  to,  but  I 
choose  the  Club  and  the  party  next  week  and  the  basket- 
ball match  and  the  Fourth  of  July  camping  party! 
Movies !  You  can  have  those  any  time  you  want  to. 
And  let  me  tell  you,  there  are  lots  of  girls  just  crazy  to 
get  into  this  Club,  only  they  can't  because  it's  large 
enough  as  it  is.  Anyone  who  wants  to  go  with  Maggie 
Moran,  go  on.  There  are  other  girls.  And  we  can  find 
plenty  who  don't  think  we  are  slow,  either." 

The  Club  settled  back.  Even  Maggie  Moran  hesitated. 
The  President  had  reminded  them  all  of  Club  delights 
to  come.  But  Maggie's  pride  forced  her  on  her  way. 
She  flounced  out  of  the  room. 

Miss  Johnson  seeing  Maggie's  exit  and  noticing  the 
quiet  in  the  Recreation  Room,  stole  softly  to  the  door. 

"And,  now,"  the  President  was  saying,  "all  those  who 
are  going  to  quit  the  tough  dancing,  holler  'I.'  " 

"/,"  shouted  the  Club,  with  a  single  voice. 

"That's  the  stuff,"  answered  the  President.  "Now, 
give  us  a  one-step,  Jennie,  but  make  it  slow." 

The  girls  chose  their  partners  and  Miss  Johnson  went 
back  to  her  room.  "Blessings  on  the  girl !"  she  said, 
softly,  "I  might  have  known." 


CHAPTER  XIV 
CLUB  WORK  IN  WAR  TIME— OVER  THERE 

SINCE  the  outbreak  of  the  War,  American  girls  and 
women  have  watched  with  eager  interest  the  important 
part  which  the  girls  and  women  "over  there"  have  been 
taking  in  the  great  conflict.  Each  year  has  brought  the 
story  of  the  increasing  responsibility  assumed  by  them  in 
the  affairs  of  their  governments  and  in  the  industrial  life 
of  the  nations.  Wherever  a  real  need  has  become  ap- 
parent, there  hundreds — no — thousands  of  women  have 
eagerly  stepped  forward  to  do  the  required  work. 

Women's  War  Work  in  England 

The  fact  that  girls  and  women  had  never  before 
entered  many  of  the  fields  now  open  was  no  barrier. 
Earnestly  they  set  to  work  to  learn  the  necessary  re- 
quirements. To-day,  the  branches  of  work  into  which 
women  have  gone  are  so  numerous  that  many  have  be- 
come convinced  that  there  is  nothing  a  woman  cannot  do 
if  she  tries !  Miss  Helen  Eraser,  in  her  book  on  "Women 
and  War  Work,"  says :  "Women  are  gardeners,  elevator 
attendants,  commissionaires  and  conductors  on  our  buses 
and  trams,  and  in  provincial  towns  drive  many  of  the 
electric  trams.  In  the  railways  they  are  booking  clerks, 
carriage  and  engine  cleaners  and  greasers;  carriage  re- 

325 


326  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

pairers;  cooks  and  waiters  in  dining  cars,  platform,  par- 
cel and  goods  porters ;  telegraphists  and  ticket  collectors 
and  inspectors;  and  laborers  and  wagon  sheet  repairers. 
They  work  in  quarries,  are  coal  workers,  clean  ships,  are 
park-keepers  and  cinema  operators.  They  are  com- 
mercial travelers  in  large  numbers.  They  are  in  banks 
to  a  great  extent  and  are  now  taking  banking  examin- 
ations." 

When  the  end  of  a  working  day  comes,  girls  by  the 
thousands  pour  out  from  the  great  factories  where  they 
have  been  successfully  performing  their  appointed  tasks. 
Delicate  and  technical  operations,  dangerous  work — these 
the  girls  have  done  unflinchingly  and  well.  Even  when 
fatal  accidents  have  occurred,  the  girls  have  stuck  to 
their  posts.  The  story  of  their  calm  courage  has  been 
an  inspiration  to  many. 

Willingly  and  gladly,  the  girls  and  women  of  England 
and  France  have  gone  from  their  homes  to  the  places 
where  work  has  awaited  them.  They  have  gone  out  on 
to  the  farms  in  the  great  Women's  Land  Army  to  help 
in  the  important  work  of  raising  food.  They  have  gone 
into  the  many  departments  of  the  Government  offices, 
there  to  faithfully  perform  the  many  necessary  tasks. 
They  have  gone  to  the  firing-line  as  nurses  and  to  do  the 
cooking  and  to  mend  and  repair  the  clothing  and  equip- 
ment of  the  armies. 

It  has  been  a  record  of  achievement  to  which  the 
world  has  paid  homage.  As  Mr.  Asquith  has  said  of  the 
English  girls  and  women,  "It  is  true  they  cannot  fight 
in  the  gross,  material  sense  of  going  out  with  rifles  and 
so  forth.  But  they  fill  our  munition  factories.  They  are 
doing  the  work  which  the  men  who  are  fighting  had  to 


CLUBSJN  WAR  TIME— OVER  THERE      327 

perform  before.  They  have  taken  their  places.  They 
are  the  servants  of  the  State,  and  they  have  aided  in  the 
most  effective  way  in  the  prosecution  of  the  War." 

"What  has  made  this  possible?"  we  ask.  "How  it  is 
that  girls  unaccustomed  to  manual  labor  have  been  able 
to  enter  these  strenuous  lines  of  work  and  keep  steadily 
on?"  The  spirit  of  the  girls  has  urged  them  forward. 
Those  whom  they  love  best  have  gone  to  the  trenches, 
many  of  them  never  to  return. 

"Don't  you  know  why  I  do  it?"  a  munitions  worker 
in  England  exclaimed  to  a  Welfare  Supervisor.  "I'll 
tell  you  why.  My  Tom  went  out  there,  and  he's  never 
coming  back.  That's  why  I  do  it." 

It  is  this  spirit  which  has  led  the  girls  to  undertake 
even  those  occupations  which  endanger  their  appearance. 
"Canary  Girls"  the  boys  call  the  munition  workers 
whom  the  "T.  N.  T."  has  turned  yellow.  Yellow  skin 
and  yellow  hair  for  the  rest  of  their  lives — that  has  been 
the  price  asked  of  them  and  that  price  they  have  will- 
ingly paid. 

How  the  Club  Idea  Meets  a  Real  Need 

The  spirit  of  the  girls  and  women  has  indeed  been  a 
great  factor  in  determining  their  large  part  in  the  great 
struggle.  But  could  this  spirit  alone  carry  them  through 
th'e  days  of  hard,  fatiguing  work?  What  about  their 
health  and  their  recreations?  What  about  the  hours 
when  they  have  not  been  in  the  factories  or  offices?  It 
is  just  here  that  leaders  and  organizers  of  girls  have 
been  able  to  render  their  own  service  to  the  cause.  It  is 
here  that  the  Girls'  Club  idea  has  met  a  real  need.  When 


328  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

the  girls  and  women  began  to  go  into  the  factories  and 
offices  in  ever-increasing  numbers,  those  directly  con- 
cerned with  the  welfare  of  these  realized  immediately  that 
wholesome  recreation  would  perform  a  useful  and  neces- 
sary part  in  the  War  program.  After  the  hours  of  con- 
centration, there  must  be  places  where  the  girls  could  go 
for  a  good  time,  where  they  could  sing  and  dance  and 
forget  the  war  for  a  few  short  hours. 

In  England,  the  Ministry  of  Munitions  has  organized 
a  Welfare  Department  with  the  express  purpose  of  pro- 
viding a  means  of  looking  after  the  well-being  of  the 
workers.  Under  this  Department,  Welfare  Supervisors 
are  selected.  The  choice  rests  upon  the  ability  of  these 
women  to  deal  with  women  and  girls.  The  qualities 
which  have  made  the  successful  Club  Leader  everywhere 
must  be  theirs — interest  in  girls;  power  to  judge  their 
characters  and  to  fit  them  into  their  proper  spheres  of 
work;  ability  to  see  what  is  wrong  with  their  working 
conditions,  with  the  meals  served  to  them,  with  the 
houses  in  which  they  live,  and  to  remedy  those  conditions. 

No  small  part  of  the  Welfare  Supervisor's  work  has 
been  that  of  providing  proper  recreation  for  her  charges. 
Places  for  this  recreation  have  been  built  by  the  Gov- 
ernment, by  the  factory-owners  themselves,  and  by  the 
Y.  W.  C  A. 

These  "Hostels,"  as  they  are  called,  often  provide 
rooms  where  the  girls  live,  together  with  rest  and  hos- 
pital rooms,  dining  rooms  and  large  recreation  halls. 
Only  necessary  rules  are  made  and  every  effort  is  made  to 
create  a  real  home  atmosphere. 


CLUBS  IN  WAR  TIME-OVER  THERE     329 


Happy  Times  in  the  Hostel 

In  these  hostels,  Clubs  for  the  girls  have  been  organ- 
ized. Here  they  have  met  for  their  parties  and  their 
dancing.  In  many  places,  "At  Home"  evenings  for  the 
soldiers  have  been  held,  giving  the  girls  on  the  Home 
Firing  Line  an  opportunity  to  entertain  the  men  from 
the  Firing  Line  in  France.  To  the  hostels  the  girls  may 
go  for  a  quiet  evening  of  pleasant  companionship,  for  a 
book,  or  for  a  pleasant  corner  where  they  may  write 
home. 

Stories  of  evenings  such  as  these  recall  to  mind  the 
many  tales  which  the  men  at  the  Front  have  told  of  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  huts.  What  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  has  been  doing 
for  the  men,  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  has  done  and  will  con- 
tinue to  do  for  the  girls.  Before  the  war,  the  Y.  W. 
C.  A.  had  hostels  in  England,  but  the  new  need  and  the 
great  opportunity  found  this  Association  ready  to  en- 
large its  work.  Many  Clubs  have  been  organized  for  the 
munitions  and  industrial  workers  in  the  one  hundred 
and  fifty  centers  which  are  now  open. 

Many  of  these  girls  are  away  from  home.  In  their 
Clubs  they  find  the  spirit  of  friendliness  that  banishes 
loneliness.  In  many  of  the  "huts,"  the  girls  can  buy  for 
ten  cents  a  dinner  such  as  "mother  used  to  make."  Games, 
music,  singing — all  the  things  which  make  our  American 
Girls'  Clubs  popular — appeal  to  the  English  girl.  The 
Hostels  would  mean  much  to  these  girls  away  from  home 
even  if  they  found  there  only  the  easy  chairs  and  the 
couches  and  the  books.  Add  to  these  physical  comforts 
the  bright,  wholesome  atmosphere  created  by  the  edu- 


330  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

cated  women  in  charge  and  we  do  not  wonder  at  the 
popularity  of  the  huts. 

The  service  which  these  Girls'  Clubs  are  rendering  to 
the  English  girl  in  industry  is  indeed  great.  They  have 
helped  to  keep  her  well  and  strong  and  happy  in  her 
work.  Hours  which  might  have  been  empty  have  been 
filled  with  bright  companionship  and  pleasant  occupa- 
tions. In  1917,  the  English  Prime  Minister  said,  "It  is  a 
strange  irony  but  no  small  compensation  that  the  mak- 
ing of  weapons  of  destruction  should  afford  the  occa- 
sion to  humanize  industry.  Yet  such  is  the  case."  Miss 
Helen  Eraser  points  out  the  same  results.  "We  have 
learned  a  great  deal  in  our  Welfare  work,  and  the  Wel- 
fare Supervisors  and  the  workers  both  have  benefited. 
The  heads  of  the  innumerable  hostels  which  we  have  built 
everywhere  for  our  girls — dozens  in  our  new  Govern- 
ment-built munition  cities — have  been  of  very  real  help 
and  service  to  the  girls.  A  tactful,  sensible,  educated 
woman  has  a  great  deal  to  give  that  helps  the  younger 
girl ;  she  can  look  after  and  advise  her  as  to  health,  work, 
leisure  and  amusements  in  a  way  that  leaves  real,  lasting 
benefit/' 

In  many  towns,  Clubs  have  been  organized  for  the 
dependents  of  soldiers  and  sailors.  The  United  Service 
Clubs  League  has  united  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  of 
these  Clubs.  In  the  rooms  which  have  been  opened, 
women  meet  for  friendly  talks.  Each  woman  whose  boy 
or  sweetheart  has  gone  finds  others  there  who  have 
suffered  the  same  loss  and  there  is  a  strong  bond  be- 
tween them.  In  many  of  these  Clubs,  extensive  work  is 
carried  on  for  the  men  in  the  trenches.  Sewing  and 
knitting  and  pleasant  companionship  brighten  the  lives  of 


CLUBS  IN  WAR  TIME— OVER  THERE     331 

these  women,  many  of  them  young,  from  whom  the  War 
has  demanded  the  supreme  sacrifice. 

In  the  Women's  Land  Army,  many  groups  of  girls 
have  been  organized  and  comfortably  settled  in  cottages 
on  the  farms.  Here  they  are  carefully  watched  by  the 
organizers  of  the  Board  of  Agriculture,  who  see  to  it 
that  the  housing  conditions  are  good  and  that  the  influ- 
ences surrounding  the  girls  are  wholesome.  From  early 
morning  until  night,  the  girls  on  these  farms  plow  and 
weed  and  hoe.  The  work,  however  strenuous  it  may 
have  seemed  at  the  outset,  has  proved  beneficial.  The 
proof  of  this  lies  in  the  healthy  color  and  the  increased 
weight  of  the  girls  who  have  been  at  work  upon  the 
farms.  After  three  months  of  service,  these  faithful 
workers  are  awarded  the  official  armlet  from  the  Gov- 
ernment. - 

These  groups  of  girls  are  in  charge  of  a  Leader, 
who  lives  with  them  and  looks  after  their  welfare  in 
every  possible  way.  Each  of  these  Leaders  has  before 
her  the  same  opportunity  which  is  open  to  the  Girls' 
Club  Leader.  It  rests  largely  with  her  to  create  the 
spirit  of  cooperation  which  the  girls  may  feel  toward 
one  another.  From  her  daily  contact  with  them,  she 
learns  what  this  group  of  hers  needs — and  if  she  can, 
she  will  meet  those  needs  adequately. 

The  "Waacs"  in  England  and  in  France 

The  WAACS  of  England  are  another  organization  of 
young  women  to  whom  the  Girls'  Club  idea  has  meant 
much.  Most  American  girls  have  now  heard  of  these 
"Waacs"  and  know  them  to  be  those  girls  who  have 


332  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

entered  the  military  organization  and  who  work  as  cooks, 
waitresses,  telegraph  and  telephone  operators,  or  trans- 
lators, wherever  the  military  necessity  calls  them. 
Waac  is  the  popular  name  given  to  the  Women's  Army 
Auxiliary  Corps.  Through  their  efforts,  many  men  have 
been  released  for  active  service  on  the  righting  line. 
Many  young  women  who  have  passed  the  necessary  phy- 
sical examination  have  been  sent  to  France.  There  they 
live  in  camps  and  huts,  carefully  watched  over  by  the 
official  administrator.  In  this  foreign  land,  far  away 
from  home,  the  Y.  W.  C.  A/s  blue  triangle  has  a  special 
charm  for  them.  The  Y.  W.  C.  A.  huts  are  busy  centers 
of  fun  wherever  they  have  been  established.  Many 
parties  and  gay  social  evenings  are  held  there  when  the 
girls  are  "off  duty."  Here  they  give  plays  and  dances. 
The  soldiers  enjoy  the  huts,  too,  when  the  girls  invite 
them  in.  Here,  as  in  England,  the  huts  give  to  the  girls 
a  little  touch  of  home  life.  Those  Leaders  of  girls  who 
have  gone  out  to  this  work  have  found  a  rich  reward  in 
the  appreciation  of  their  Club  members.  They  have  had 
a  unique  and  great  opportunity  of  making  the  recreation 
rooms  an  important  factor  in  the  lives  of  the  girls.  In 
the  years  to  come,  the  Waacs  will  not  soon  forget  what 
these  Social  Centers  meant  to  them  at  a  time  when  they 
were  engaged  in  His  Majesty's  Service  and  subject  to 
Army  discipline. 

Nor  have  the  English  girls  alone  shared  in  such  de- 
lights. Many  huts  have  been  erected  near  Base  Hospitals 
for  all  the  nurses  there.  Visiting  the  social  rooms  has 
brought  relief  from  the  tension  which  falls  to  the  nurse's 
lot.  Many  of  them  are  young  women.  Merely  that  they 
have  volunteered  in  a  serious  undertaking  does  not  mean 


CLUBS  IN  WAR  TIME— OVER  THERE      333 

that  they  have  left  behind  them  their  love  of  parties  and 
picnics.  And  so  we  hear  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  workers 
organizing  just  those  very  special  events  in  which  girls 
everywhere  revel.  "We  are  getting  ready  for  a  party," 
writes  one  Leader  who  went  from  America  to  this  work 
in  France.  "We've  got  to  clean  up.  And  one  of  us  has 
asked  the  Major  if  she  may  ask  the  Lieutenant  if  he  will 
ask  the  Sergeant-major  if  he  will  ask  a  man  to  wash  up 
the  floor.  Considerable  tape  for  so  humdrum  a  job !" 

And  who  ever  heard  of  a  "Hike — somewhere  in 
France"  ?  Yet  they  have  been  taking  place.  The  follow- 
ing little  description  shows  what  this  recreation  plan  may 
mean  to  the  girls  who  are  so  heroically  serving  in  time 
of  need.  Imagine  what  it  must  mean  to  leave  the  ward 
where  they  see  so  much  suffering,  and  go  out  to  a — Hike ! 
"We  were  a  picturesque  parcel  as  we  started  out,"  writes 
a  Leader  from  France,  "on  a  marvel  of  a  sunshiny  day 
in  Brittany — blue  sky,  and  roses  and  nasturtiums  bloom- 
ing everywhere.  In  the  foreground  of  this  scene  fancy 
us — twenty-three  nurses,  clad  in  dark  blue  and  scarlet, 
and  your  war  workers  in  their  horizon-blue  and  gray  uni- 
forms. Blue  and  scarlet  and  gray  scrambled  over  rocks, 
trudged  through  muddy  cow  paths,  climbed  up  pic- 
turesque boulders  of  the  coast,  and  found  as  a  reward 
a  miraculous  fountain  built  in  the  thirteenth  century 
to  cure  all  childhood  diseases." 

Clubs  in  French  Factories 

The  girls  in  the  munitions  plants  and  other  factories 
of  France  have  not  been  forgotten.  American  women 
have  gone  to  help  in  the  organizing  of  this  work,  and 


334  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

the  rest  rooms  and  recreation  rooms  which  are  so  neces- 
sary have  been  provided.  One  worker  among  the  French 
girls  has  sent  the  following  report  to  America : 

"Our  work  among  the  women  in  the  munition  fac- 
tories of  France  falls  under  three  heads : 

"FIRST.  Within  the  factory,  where  there  are  women 
superintendents  in  charge  of  the  ouvritres,  who  live  in 
barracks.  In  this  case,  the  authorities  provide  the  build- 
ing and  we  furnish  it  and  provide  a  recreation  leader. 
Our  object  is  to  get  a  French  girl  interested  in  recrea- 
tion, to  take  the  place  of  the  American  after  the  Foyer 
has  been  running  successfully  for  some  time.  The  sec- 
retaries must  work  under  the  lady  superintendent,  sub- 
mit to  military  discipline,  and  endure  hardships — prob- 
ably live  in  the  barracks  and  get  used  to  cold  and  mud. 

"SECOND.  Within  the  factory,  where  there  is  no 
trained  lady  superintendent,  but  only  an  ordinary  di- 
rectrice.  These  secretaries  cannot  give  so  much  time  to 
recreation,  as  they  must  do  all  the  social  welfare  work. 
A  mature  woman  is  needed  here,  as  she  will  have  to 
care  for  the  morals  of  the  girls.  It  is  a  difficult  job. 

"THIRD.  Industrial  Committees  supervising  girls  in 
many  factories.  This  is  the  case  at  Lyons.  Under  the 
French  Comite  Nationale  there  are  in  Paris  six  or  seven 
restaurants,  each  needing  a  social  annex." 

In  France,  too,  the  problem  of  the  girls  in  farm  work 
has  presented  itself.  The  Committee  on  Feminine  Ac- 
tivities in  Paris  and  members  of  the  National  Council 
of  French  Women  have  taken  up  the  problem  of  pro- 
viding quarters  and  recreations  for  the  girls  who  go  out 
to  do  this  work.  French  girls  as  well  as  English  girls 


CLUBS  IN  WAR  TIME— OVER  THERE     335 

need  wholesome  places  to  live  and  to  enjoy  their  hours 
of  leisure. 

The  problem  of  working  among  the  girls  in  France 
is  fundamentally  the  same  as  that  in  other  countries. 
It  is  not  enough  to  provide  girls  with  "jobs."  They  must 
also  be  given  the  opportunity  for  a  well-developed  life, 
with  a  comfortable  place  to  live,  with  wholesome  food 
to  eat,  with  interesting  play  to  give  zest  to  it  all.  There 
can  be  no  doubt  that  Girls'  Club  work,  in  its  broadest 
functions,  has  a  useful  contribution  to  make.  Every 
girl  needs  what  a  good  Club  has  to  give. 

Even  Russian  Girls  Are  Organizing 

Even  in  Petrograd,  with  all  its  rioting  and  disorder, 
a  Y.  W.  C.  A.  worker  from  America  has  opened  up 
Association  work.  If  the  girls  themselves  are  given  a 
voice  in  making  the  decision,  the  work  will  go  on.  For 
all  through  the  early  days  of  the  Revolution,  when  the 
streets  were  filled  with  rioting,  these  Russian  girls  came 
to  the  newly-opened  Club  rooms.  The  organizer  in 
Petrograd  has  said  that  one  of  her  best  committee  meet- 
ings was  held  "when  the  guns  from  Peter  and  Paul  were 
pounding  into  the  Winter  Palace  three  or  four  blocks 
away." 

It  is  interesting  to  hear  that  these  young  Russian  girls 
received  their  first  enthusiasm  for  Club  work  through — 
Motion  Pictures!  They  were  invited  to  a  party.  The 
special  attraction  was  a  film,  taken  at  Geneva,  Wisconsin, 
showing  the  tent  life  of  American  girls  at  one  of  the 
Y.  W.  C.  A.  summer  conferences.  The  secretary's  own 
of  this  party  gives  a  glimpse  into  the  life  of  the 


336  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

Russian  girl.  "The  tent  life  at  Geneva,  the  crowds  of 
American  girls  and  the  outdoor  sports  were  pictures  of 
another  world  to  them.  After  these  moving  pictures,  the 
registrations  were  almost  solid  for  gymnasium  work! 
We  smile  at  the  girls'  enthusiasm  for  it,  for  all  summer 
long  Russian  women  had  told  us  that  there  was  no  use 
in  trying  it,  that  Russian  girls  considered  it  beneath  their 
dignity  to  play  games  or  do  gymnastics. — But,  as  our 
handsome  salon  has  windows,  breakable  lighting  fixtures, 
and  mammoth  paintings  of  past  empresses  and  arch- 
bishops, we  shall  have  to  do  some  screening  to  make  it 
exactly  suitable  for  basketball ! 

"So  you  see  we  are  beginning  to  have  an  all-round 
Association.  The  very  way  the  girls  come  to  us  is  proof 
that  they  find  there  something  that  they  want.  The 
classes  are  a  great  attraction,  but  aside  from  these,  the 
girls  feel  a  different  atmosphere  from  anything  they  have 
known  before.  One  girl,  who  has  had  a  gymnasium 
course  and  is  clerking  in  a  book  store,  said  after  our 
party:  'I  like  the  American  way — there  is  so  much  fun 
and  lightness  in  the  way  you  do  things/  " 

After  the  work  was  started  in  Petrograd,  the  organ- 
izers went  on  to  Moscow.  Here,  with  the  help  of  a 
prominent  Petrograd  woman,  they  were  able  to  interest 
the  owner  of  several  large  silk  factories,  herself  a  woman. 
The  Petrograd  woman  had  seen  the  work  among  Rus- 
sian girls  and  knew  what  it  could  accomplish.  She 
persuaded  her  friend  to  give  the  use  of  a  hall  to  the 
organizer.  The  secretary  at  once  set  to  work  upon  the 
plans  for  the  girls  of  Moscow. 

What  will  be  the  future  of  this  work  which  has  been 
started,  no  one  can  tell.  Enough  has  already  been  ac- 


CLUBS  IN  WAR  TIME— OVER  THERE     337 

complished,  however,  to  establish  one  fact — the  Russian 
girls  are  ready  for  those  very  Clubs  which  have  brought 
so  much  happiness  to  our  American  girls. 

"Comrades  All!" 

So  it  is  that  Girls'  Clubs,  with  their  many  activities, 
have  fulfilled  a  definite  service  "over  there."  Those 
American  Leaders  of  girls  who  have  gone  to  help  in 
this  great  work  have  found  that  American  girls  and 
French  girls  and  English  girls  and  Russian  girls  are 
sisters,  after  all.  The  games  which  these  Leaders  played 
with  their  Clubs  in  American  camps  and  club  rooms 
have  been  introduced  with  greatest  success  among  girls 
everywhere  across  the  ocean.  The  songs  which  delighted 
the  Club  members  here  have  been  sung  over  and  over 
by  those  other  girls.  Through  it  all,  we  have  been 
drawn  more  closely  together.  The  girls  across  the  sea 
are  real  girls  to  us  now.  From  them,  the  American  girls 
have  gained  much  inspiration.  The  message  which  the 
girls  of  Vassar  sent  to  the  girls  of  France  has  been 
echoed  in  many  hearts:  "To  you,  the  girls  of  France, 
who  by  your  courageous  suffering  have  ennobled  youth 
and  womanhood,  we,  the  girls  of  Vassar  College,  send 
greetings,  proud  that  we  may  call  ourselves  your  com- 
rades, and  trusting  that  we,  too,  strengthened  by  sacrifice, 
may  prove  worthy  of  what  is  henceforth  to  be  our 
common  burden." 


CHAPTER  XV 
CLUB  WORK  IN  WAR  TIME— OVER  HERE 

WE  have  already  seen  how  the  Girls'  Clubs  of  America 
answered  the  call  of  the  President  at  the  outbreak  of 
the  war.  From  the  first,  they  cooperated  in  all  work 
which  was  open  to  them.  We  have  seen  how  the  Girls' 
Club  idea  has  been  of  great  service  in  the  work  among 
girls  living  near  our  large  Training  Camps.  Will  Girls' 
Clubs  be  organized,  in  the  days  to  come,  among  those 
many  young  women  who  will  almost  certainly  be  called 
upon  to  assume  a  greater  share  in  the  work  of  the  na- 
tion? The  answer  to  this  question  can  scarcely  remain 
in  doubt.  Girls'  Clubs  will  be  organized  in  greater  num- 
bers because  they  are  already  proving  their  usefulness  in 
the  War  emergency. 

American  Girls  in  War  Industries 

In  this  country  women  and  girls  have  not  yet  been 
called  into  new  undertakings  in  such  large  numbers  as 
in  England.  War  has  not  yet  laid  its  heaviest  hands  upon 
us.  Already,  however,  many  young  women  have  gone 
into  new  lines  of  work,  called  there  by  necessities  of 
war.  Girls  in  America  have  joined  the  "Woman's  Land 
Army,"  going  out  on  to  the  farms  to  work.  They  have 
taken  employment  in  the  many  departments  of  Govern- 


CLUBS  IN  WAR  TIME— OVER  HERE      339 

ment  service.  In  our  uniform  factories,  our  munition 
plants,  and  other  industries  arising  from  war  needs,  girls 
and  women  have  been  used  and  are  being  used  in  ever- 
increasing  numbers.  We  have  women  acting  as  elevator- 
operators,  trolley  conductors,  and  mail-carriers.  As  in 
England,  many  of  these  young  women  leave  their  homes 
and  go  into  strange  cities  to  do  the  work  to  which  they 
have  been  called.  In  some  localities,  girls  have  come 
from  country  districts  to  the  factories.  City  life  is  new 
to  them  and  they  are  bewildered  by  the  new  sights  and 
sounds  and  customs. 

By  March,  1918,  a  survey  of  over  one  million  women 
in  industries  directly  or  indirectly  connected  with  War 
work  had  already  been  made  in  fifteen  States,  with  the 
sanction  and  assistance  of  the  Department  of  Labor.  It 
revealed  the  fact  that  American  women  had  already  en- 
tered upon  new  lines  of  work  in  numbers  indeed  great. 
"These  million  and  more  women,'*  states  the  survey, 
"are  in  the  front  rank  of  the  industrial  army  of  defense. 
They  are  the  important  women  of  the  nation.  Bands 
do  not  play  in  their  honor ;  they  do  not  wear  picturesque 
uniforms;  yet  in  the  business  of  winning  the  war,  it  is 
as  necessary  to  protect  their  working  efficiency  as  to 
safeguard  the  fighting  efficiency  of  the  men  on  the  firing 
line. 

"The  thing  which  the  survey  impresses  upon  us  is  that 
woman  cannot  escape  her  world-old  job—the  job  of 
feeding  and  clothing.  She  finds  this  to  be  her  job  out- 
side as  well  as  inside  the  home,  if  she  is  to  be  an  important 
factor  in  winning  the  war." 

So  it  is  that  wherever  these  girls  and  women  are 
brought  together  the  need  for  constructive  work  among 


340  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

them  at  once  presents  itself.  American  girls  require  the 
same  things  that  English  and  French  girls  need,  after 
their  long  hours  of  work — opportunity  for  rest  and  re- 
laxation, opportunity  for  the  fun  which  all  girls  love. 
The  Government  of  the  United  States  has  already  fore- 
seen the  problems  which  will  inevitably  present  them- 
selves in  connection  with  this  movement  of  women  to 
industry.  To  consider  these  problems  and  to  meet  the 
needs,  a  Women's  Division  of  the  Industrial  Service 
Section  has  been  established,  with  Miss  Mary  Van 
Kleeck  as  Head.  Through  Miss  Van  Kleeck's  direction, 
women  supervisors  are  being  appointed  to  direct  women 
workers  in  munition  plans.  Their  duty  is  to  see  that 
the  women  and  girls  under  them  have  proper  working 
conditions,  proper  housing,  and  canteens  where  whole- 
some food  may  be  obtained  at  low  prices.  The  presence 
of  such  a  supervisor  in  a  plant  will  mean  that  an  ever- 
watchful  eye  \vill  be  guarding  the  girls.  Those  who 
grow  pale  at  heavy  work  will  be  shifted  to  tasks  not  so 
taxing  upon  their  strength.  The  presence  of  a  well- 
managed  lunch  room  will  be  an  asset  for  the  health  of 
the  workers.  In  this  plan,  the  furnishing  of  proper 
recreation  will  have  its  definite  place. 

Just  what  this  Women's  Division  may  be  called  upon 
to  do  was  illustrated  in  the  spring  of  1918.  A  report 
was  published  stating  that  the  working  conditions  in  a 
certain  Government  Arsenal  were  not  what  they  should 
be  for  the  women  and  girls  there  employed.  The  Chief 
of  the  Women's  Division  at  once  visited  the  Arsenal, 
investigating  the  conditions  and  making  her  definite 
recommendations  concerning  the  needs  of  the  women 
and  girls.  Her  own  long  experience  in  investigating 


CLUBS  IN  WAR  TIME— OVER  HERE      341 

trades  enabled  her  not  only  to  see  what  was  wrong  with 
this  particular  situation  but  also  to  outline  a  plan  by 
which  it  could  be  improved. 

Recreation  for  War  Workers 

The  Young  Women's  Christian  Association  as  a  na- 
tional organization  stands  ready  to  help  in  this  great 
problem.  For  many  years,  its  trained  Leaders  of  girls 
have  been  carrying  on  extensive  work  among  the  girls 
in  United  States  industries.  From  the  outset  this  work 
has  steadily  grown.  Recreation  rooms,  rest  rooms, 
gymnasiums,  lunch-hour  Clubs,  classes,  parties,  camping 
trips — all  these  have  been  successfully  instituted  among 
factory  girls.  To-day,  the  problem  in  our  war  industries 
is  essentially  the  same.  The  character  and  needs  of  our 
American  girls  have  not  changed  simply  because  they 
have  been  called  on  to  do  new  kinds  of  industrial  work. 
But  the  problem  of  how  to  meet  their  needs  is  greatly 
increased  and  experienced  Leaders  of  girls  have  to-day 
a  greater  opportunity  before  them  than  ever  before. 

Many  trained  Leaders  have  already  been  called  upon 
to  do  constructive  work  in  busy  war  centers.  Thither 
they  have  gone,  introducing  into  new  fields  those  ideas 
which  they  have  found  popular  with  girls.  The  story 
of  the  work  accomplished  in  a  large  uniform  factory  at 
Charleston,  South  Carolina,  is  typical.  The  outbreak 
of  the  war  at  once  necessitated  enlarging  this  factory. 
Hundreds  of  girls  came  to  Charleston  to  work  in  it, 
many  of  them  from  the  country.  The  latter  often  felt 
strange  and  unhappy  in  the  busy  city  streets;  their  lives 
had  been  isolated  and  they  did  not  know  how  to  play 


342  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

with  other  girls.  The  recreational  problem  before  the 
Special  War  Workers  in  Charleston  was  to  provide  Club 
rooms  to  which  these  girls  could  come  during  their  free 
time,  and  attractions  which  would  bring  them  there. 
From  the  first,  the  Navy  officials  cooperated  in  every 
possible  way,  for  they,  too,  realized  what  Club  work 
would  mean  in  the  lives  of  their  busy  girls.  The  pay- 
master in  charge  allowed  the  secretaries  to  visit  the  girls 
during  factory  hours.  Walking  through  the  large  rooms, 
chatting  with  the  girls  at  their  machines  for  a  few 
moments — such  were  their  opportunities  for  valuable  per- 
sonal contact:  in  this  way,  the  girls  came  to  know  the 
secretaries. 

To  aid  in  the  work,  the  Commandant  equipped  a  play- 
ground where  the  girls  might  have  a  pleasant  noon-hour. 
To  this  playground  the  secretaries  have  gone,  day  after 
day,  bringing  fun  to  the  girls.  The  young  women  of 
Charleston  have  also  gone  out  to  help  in  this  lunch-hour 
recreation.  Each  week  the  program  is  carefully  planned 
in  advance,  with  a  preliminary  meeting  of  the  volunteer 
recreational  assistants,  so  that  all  workers  know  just 
what  is  scheduled — whether  games  or  basketball  or 
volley  ball  or  baseball.  Through  these  preliminary  meet- 
ings the  secretaries  have  not  only  supplied  varied  recrea- 
tion for  the  factory  girls  but  have  also  trained  other 
young  women  to  meet  the  great  demand  for  recreational 
workers. 

A  lunch-hour  program  is  full  of  possibilities.  Even 
a  short  game  gives  the  Leaders  an  opportunity  to  become 
acquainted  with  the  girls  and  to  extend  a  cordial  invita- 
tion to  "come  to  our  Club  to-night."  Imagine  what  such 
an  invitation  means  to  a  lonely  girl  in  this  Charleston 


w 
8 

I 


c/ 


CLUBS  IN  WAR  TIME— OVER  HERE      343 

factory,  a  girl  working  in  a  city  for  the  first  time  in 
her  life.  At  lunch  time,  she  has  hesitatingly  followed 
the  other  girls  out  on  to  the  playground.  Here,  before 
she  knows  it,  she  is  in  the  midst  of  an  exciting  game. 
There  is  a  smiling,  friendly  young  woman  in  charge,  who 
blows  a  whistle  and  starts  everything  going.  Between 
games,  this  young  woman  sits  down  by  the  new  girl — 
who  is  no  longer  lonely.  She  soon  finds  herself  telling 
how  she  came  to  the  factory  and  where  she  lives  and 
how  homesick  she  has  been. 

Then  the  friendly  young  woman  tells  her  about  the 
Recreation  Hall  for  the  girls.  She  describes  the  Clubs 
and  all  the  many  interesting  things  which  the  girls  do  in 
them.  The  new  girl  at  once  makes  up  her  mind  to  go 
to  the 'Recreation  Hall  as  soon  as  she  can.  And  just  as 
she  is  thinking  this,  the  young  woman  invites  her  to  come 
that  very  evening. 

That  night,  after  work  is  over  and  she  has  eaten  her 
supper,  the  new  girl  does  not  forget  the  invitation.  She 
finds  her  way  to  the  Recreation  Hall  and  steps  timidly 
into  the  doorway.  One  of  the  girls  is  there  to  welcome 
her,  and  the  Leader  from  the  playground  soon  sees  her. 

"Come  on  over  to  the  piano  and  sing,"  the  Leader  says 
at  once.  "All  the  girls  are  practising  the  songs  for  the 
'Community  Sing'  on  Saturday  evening.  That's  the  time 
when  everybody  in  the  city  gets  together — and  soldiers 
and  sailors,  too — and  we  all  sing.  It's  such  fun,  and  our 
Club  girls  like  to  do  their  share." 

So  the  new  girl  joins  the  others  and  they  sing  many 
pretty  songs.  After  the  practise,  the  Club  girls  all  call 
for  "John  Brown's  Baby  Has  a  Cold  Upon  Its  Chest," 
and  the  pianist  plays  with  a  will.  The  new  girl  thinks 


344  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

she  has  never  heard  anything  quite  so  funny  as  that  song. 
At  each  verse  she  laughs  heartily — laughs  as  she  has  not 
done  since  she  came  away  from  home.  After  John 
Brown's  Baby,  the  girls  learn  a  Folk  Dance.  It  is  such 
fun  to  do  it.  The  new  girl  feels  happier  than  at  any 
time  since  she  has  left  home. 

From  this  evening  on,  the  new  girl  is  an  enthusiastic 
Club  member.  She  enters  into  all  the  activities  and  each 
time  she  comes  to  the  Recreation  Hall  she  learns  some- 
thing new.  She  goes  on  sight-seeing  trips  around  the 
city,  and  she  takes  part  in  committee  work.  Life  in 
Charleston  means  far  more  to  her  than  just  hours  on 
hours  of  factory  toil. 

Such  is  the  nature  of  the  work  which  is  being  done 
for  the  girls  in  Charleston.  Nor  are  the  enlisted  men 
forgotten  in  the  good  times.  Three  times  a  week  parties 
have  been  held,  and  girls  and  enlisted  men  have  come 
together  for  "a  grand  and  glorious  romp,"  as  one  of 
the  secretaries  described  it.  The  parties  when  first  in- 
stituted entertained  one  hundred  and  fifty  young  people. 
In  a  short  while,  the  attendance  was  over  three  hundred. 
The  party  program  has  consisted  of  Folk  Dances, 
originated  to  fit  the  occasion,  and  the  singing  of  popular 
and  humorous  motion  songs.  Last  but  not  least,  the 
"stunts"  have  had  an  important  place.  The  different 
Girls'  Clubs  have  contributed  their  "bit,"  and  the  en- 
listed men  themselves  have  joined  in  with  impromptu 
numbers. 

"With  this  program,  we  have  no  difficulty  in  keeping 
over  three  hundred  going  and  happy  for  a  whole  even- 
ing," a  secretary  has  writen  from  Charleston.  "In  fact, 


CLUBS  IN  WAR  TIME— OVER  HERE      345 

the  difficulty  comes  when  we  want  them  to  go  home — 
it's  hard  to  get  them  started  out  of  the  door!" 

The  men  and  women  of  Charleston  have  cooperated  in 
these  plans,  giving  generously  of  their  time  and  money 
to  help  the  girls  who  are  on  the  "second  line  of  defense." 
These  opportunities  for  the  girls  have  been  made  possible 
by  the  foresight  of  the  Leaders  in  outlining  a  national 
plan  to  meet  the  needs,  and  by  the  splendid  cooperation 
of  the  people  of  Charleston. 

That  the  work  has  definitely  helped  our  war  pro- 
gram is  shown  by  the  following  extract  from  a  letter 
written  by  the  officer  in  charge  of  the  Charleston  factory 
to  the  general  secretary  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  in  that  city: 
"I  wish  to  express  my  appreciation  of  the  work  of  the 
.Y.  W.  C.  A.  in  caring  for  the  general  welfare  of  the 
female  employees  of  the  Naval  clothing  factory.  At 
the  commencement  of  the  War,  the  personnel  of  the 
Naval  clothing  factory  immediately  doubled,  then  trebled. 
This  expansion  brought  hundreds  of  women,  young  and 
old,  to  Charleston  and  the  Navy  Yard.  The  splendid 
efforts  of  the  Association,  in  housing  and  wholesomely 
entertaining  our  additional  workers,  have  been  largely 
responsible  for  our  success  in  obtaining  our  quota  of 
labor." 

Nor  has  the  work  in  Charleston  been  unique.  The 
same  opportunity  has  presented  itself  to  the  Leaders 
assigned  to  all  the  centers  of  War  Industry  and  Activity 
in  America.  By  March,  1918,  more  than  sixty  centers 
of  such  work  for  girls  had  been  opened.  The  War  Work 
Bulletin  at  this  time  reported,  "These  workers  gather  to- 
gether a  committee  of  all  the  interests  represented  in  a 
town  or  city  and  study  the  resources  and  conditions 


346  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

which  influence  girls.  Boarding  houses  for  girls  are 
investigated  and  lists  of  the  acceptable  ones  compiled. 
Foreign-born  girls  and  their  conditions  are  studied. 

"Through  the  help  of  the  town  authorities,  recreation 
centers  are  opened.  Sometimes  a  city-wide  program  of 
recreation  is  stimulated." 


The  Woman's  Land  Army  of  America 

The  girls  of  America  have  not  overlooked  the  im- 
portance of  farm  work  in  the  great  war  crisis.  "The 
world  must  have  more  food,"  was  the  cry.  Labor  for 
the  farms  became  increasingly  scarce.  Following  the 
example  of  our  English  sisters,  a  Woman's  Land  Army 
of  America  was  organized.  In  the  summer  of  1917,  the 
pioneers  in  this  movement  went  out  on  to  farms  to  help. 
At  first  the  farmers  were  skeptical.  What  did  they  want 
of  "girls  messing  around?"  they  asked.  A  summer  of 
hard,  faithful  work,  however,  enabled  the  young  women 
on  the  farms  to  prove  their  worth.  In  many  localities 
the  very  farmers  who  in  the  beginning  of  the  season  had 
scoffed,  later  in  the  summer  eagerly  sought  the  help  of 
the  young  women.  In  the  summer  of  1917,  a  unit  of 
Vassar  girls  worked  upon  the  College  farm.  The  general 
Superintendent  of  the  College  wrote  of  them,  at  the  close 
of  the  season,  "They  took  great  interest  in  the  work  and 
made  good  far  beyond  our  most  sanguine  expectations." 
The  Bryn  Mawr  College  unit  raised  and  preserved  many 
products  used,  at  a  later  date,  by  the  College. 

One  of  the  most  successful  of  these  pioneer  units  in 
1917  was  that  at  Bedford,  New  York.  A  local  board, 
affiliated  with  the  Committee  on  Agriculture  of  the 


CLUBS  IN  WAR  TIME— OVER  HERE]      347 

Mayor's  Committee  of  Women  on  National  Defense  of 
New  York  City,  controlled  the  affairs  of  the  Camp.  The 
girls  enrolled  were  college  girls  and  girls  from  various 
trades.  The  intention  was  not  to  take  people  away  from 
other  occupations,  but  to  utilize  spare  or  waste  time. 
"The  girls  lived  in  a  central  camp,"  says  the  first  Annual 
Report  of  this  unit,  "from  which  they  were  taken  in 
automobiles  to  the  farms  where  they  were  wanted.  They 
worked  on  the  farms  eight  hours  a  day,  the  camp  man- 
agement being  responsible  for  their  wages  and  living 
conditions.  In  addition  to  the  eight-hour  day,  certain 
tasks  such  as  milking  were  done  at  home  by  different 
girls  in  turn." 

Many  forms  of  agricultural  work  were  successfully 
performed  by  these  pioneers.  "Planting,  weeding,  trans- 
planting, thinning  of  fruit,  hoeing  of  corn  and  potatoes, 
succeeded  each  other.  Two  girls  had  an  opportunity  to 
use  a  mowing  machine  with  horses,  many  used  a  horse 
rake  and  nearly  seventy  pitched  hay.  The  binding  and 
stacking  of  rye  was  done,  and  cutting  of  corn.  Peaches 
and  apples  were  picked,  the  latter  involving  the  use  of 
long,  heavy  ladders.  Various  other  kinds  of  work  not 
strictly  agricultural  were  done,  such  as  filling  silos,  dig- 
ging post  holes  and  setting  posts,  stretching  chicken 
wire,  whitewashing,  painting,  and  cleaning  tools  and 
machinery." 

The  house  in  which  the  majority  of  this  Bedford  Unit 
lived  was  to  all  intents  and  purposes  a  veritable  "Club- 
house." It  was  the  center  of  activity.  Here  was  hung 
the  Bulletin  Board  on  which  were  posted  the  daily  as- 
signments of  the  workers.  How  eagerly  the  girls  looked 
each  day  to  see  who  was  to  be  sent  to  the  "Refreshment 


348  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

Farm"!  For  at  this  farm  the  farmer's  wife  sent  out 
to  them,  in  the  middle  of  the  morning,  a  cool  and  re- 
freshing drink.  In  the  central  house,  the  girls  often 
gathered  for  dancing  and  singing.  Here  they  brought 
their  knitting,  for  a  quiet  hour  of  sociability. 

The  girls  worked  in  squads  of  six  or  eight,  each  squad 
organized  under  the  leadership  of  a  Captain.  Many  of 
the  duties  of  a  Club  president  or  Leader  fell  to  her  lot, 
for  hers  was  the  general  supervision  of  the  girls,  seeing 
that  they  kept  steadily  at  work  and  that  good  treatment 
was  accorded  them  at  all  times.  Not  the  least  of  her 
duties  was  waking  up  her  squad  at  the  close  of  the  lunch 
hour!  At  the  beginning  of  the  summer,  the  general 
plan  was  to  put  the  college  girls  in  as  Captains.  This 
was  soon  abandoned,  however,  and  the  appointments 
were  given  to  those  girls  who  showed  capacity  for 
leadership. 

The  unit  had  many  merry  times  together,  as  all  groups 
of  girls  do  when  "camping  out."  The  spirit  of  fun  com- 
bined with  the  hard  work  made  the  days  seem  short.  One 
of  the  motors  was  named  "Henry  the  Third."  The  cow 
was  called  "Willy-Nilly."  The  swimming  pool  nearby 
became  the  scene  of  many  merry  larks.  The  rosy  cheeks 
and  increased  weight  of  the  girls  in  overalls  soon  showed 
that  their  country  experiment  was  indeed  a  success. 

The  girls  themselves  liked  it  and  the  farmers  liked 
them.  Concerning  the  work  done  by  the  unit,  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Bedford  Farmers'  Club  wrote,  "Some  eight 
or  ten  of  the  farmers  who  have  employed  them  have 
given  emphatic  testimony  as  to  the  efficiency  of  their 
labor,  their  marked  intelligence,  their  eagerness  to  learn 
the  'reason  why*  of  agricultural  operations,  their  zest 


CLUBS  IN  WAR  TIME-OVER  HERE       349 

and  steadfastness  in  their  work  and  their  pleasant  and 
unexceptionable  behavior." 

As  a  result  of  these  experiments,  in  1918  the  Woman's 
Land  Army  movement  of  America  became  greatly  ex- 
tended, and  the  unit  plan  was  officially  adopted.  "A 
unit  is  a  group  of  workers  who  live  together,  who  work 
either  on  one  farm  or  on  several,  and  whose  food  and 
social  life  are  provided  without  any  responsibility  on  the 
part  of  the  farmer."  In  this  way,  girls  go  together  to  do 
the  new  and  untried  work.  The  summer  days  of  work 
are  made  easier  through  the  pleasant  contact  with  other 
girls.  Those  in  charge  of  the  units  have  been  selected 
because  of  their  understanding  of  girls  and  their  ability 
to  lead  them.  The  units  have  been  placed  after  the  direct 
consideration  of  the  needs  of  each  locality,  a  survey  of 
labor  conditions  showing  whether  there  was  a  real  need 
for  an  increased  labor  supply,  so  that  they  might  be  sent 
to  strategic  points. 

The  recreation  for  the  girls  who  go  out  to  work  in 
this  way  is  a  vital  consideration.  The  smaller  units  can 
in  most  cases  provide  their  own  recreation.  Hikes,  pic- 
nics, dancing  and  singing  are  almost  spontaneously  ar- 
ranged for  among  small  groups  of  girls  who  are  living 
together  as  comrades. 

Where  a  large  number  of  girls  are  gathered  together 
for  rural  work,  a  Leader  of  girls  will  find  a  splendid 
opportunity  for  organizing  activities.  The  establishment 
of  some  center  for  recreation  will  undoubtedly  be  the 
means  of  keeping  many  girls  contented  and  happy. 
Before  the  outbreak  of  the  war,  this  plan  had  already 
been  tried  among  the  hop-pickers  of  Oregon  and  Wash- 
ington, and  among  the  girls  and  women  in  our  fruit- 


350  GIRLS'  CLUBS 

growing  sections.  The  needs  of  these  girls  are  those  of 
all  girls  who  go  out  from  the  cities  to  the  farms  in 
large  groups,  and  the  story  of  the  work  done  among  them 
is  full  of  suggestion.  The  Leader  who  went  to  them 
found  a  great  need  for  her  work.  "She  found  hundreds 
of  girls  herded  together  for  work  in  the  fields,  sleeping 
in  tents  on  rude  straw  ticks,  rising  at  dawn  to  work  till 
dusk  for  a  meager  wage,  but  having,  nevertheless, 
enough  of  the  zest  of  life  in  them  at  the  close  of  their 
hard  days  of  toil  to  lead  them  into  serious  mischief  if 
there  were  no  outlet  provided  for  their  high  spirits.  She 
solved  the  difficulty  happily  with  a  big  amusement  tent, 
where  they  gathered  in  the  evenings  for  'sings'  and  gen- 
eral good  times.  Many  of  the  girls  were  lawless  spirits  out 
for  a  good  time,  but  amazingly  soon  the  evening  concerts 
had  drawn  everybody  into  a  magic  circle.  One  observer 
after  watching  the  effect  of  this  recreation  remarked, 
'Undoubtedly  such  an  influence  is  good,  and  it  seems 
desirable  that  this  work  should  be  extended  to  all  large 
fields  where  young  women  go  and  where  they  are  con- 
stantly menaced  by  moral  dangers  offset  by  no  restraining 
influences.'  " 

A  Girls'  Club:  A  Vital  War  Factor 

Having  seen  what  Girls'  Club  work  has  accomplished 
in  war  times  "over  there"  and  "over  here,"  no  one  can 
doubt  that  it  is  of  greatest  value  in  the  higher  develop- 
ment of  girls.  Without  its  influence  many  girls  would 
find  in  the  high  tension  of  war  times  just  those  tempta- 
tions which  lead  them  away  from  their  ideals.  Their 
Girls'  Clubs,  however,  have  meant  to  them  a  restraining 


CLUBS  IN  WAR  TIME— OVER  HERE       351 

hand.  In  the  many  activities,  happy  hours  have  been 
spent  and  life-long  friendships  formed.  The  lessons  im- 
pressed upon  the  girls  by  a  wise  and  sympathetic  Club 
Leader  have  had  their  effect.  The  Club  idea  has  stood 
the  test.  A  girl  who  is  a  member  of  a  busy  Club  will, 
in  all  probability,  grow  to  splendid  and  useful  womanhood. 


APPENDIX 


HELPS  FOR  THE  CLUB  LEADER 


APPENDIX 

HELPS  FOR  THE  CLUB  LEADER 
General  Sources  of  Information 

1.  National    Headquarters    of    the    following    Girls' 
Organizations  stand  ready  to  help  Club  Leaders  in  every 
possible  way. 

All  are  in  New  York  City 

Camp  Fire  Girls,  461  Fourth  Ave. 

Girl  Scouts,  10  East  43d  Street. 

The  Girls'  Protective  League,  130  East  22d  Street. 

The  National  League  of  Women  Workers,  35  East 

30th  Street. 
The  Woodcraft  League  of  America,  13  West  29th 

Street. 
The  Young  Women's  Christian  Association,  600 

Lexington  Ave. 
The  Vacation  Association,  Inc.,  38  West  39th  St. 

2.  The  United  States  Government  Departments,  Wash- 
ington, D.  C. 

Bureau  of  Education.  Department  of  Agriculture. 
Bureau  of  Labor.          Department  of  Immigration. 
Children's  Bureau.         Library  of  Congress. 

355 


3$6  APPENDIX 

3.  State  Departments. 

Education.  Labor  Legislation. 

Health.  Library  Extension. 

4.  University  and  College  Extension  Work. 

5.  National  Societies  interested  in  Public  Welfare. 

American  Library  Association. 

American  Civic  Association,  Washington,  D.  C. 

American  Association  for  Labor  Legislation,  New 

York  City. 

American  Medical  Association,  Chicago,  111. 
Drama  League  of  America,  Chicago,  111. 
International  Sunday- School  Association,  Chicago. 
National  Child  Labor  Committee,  New  York  City. 
National  Consumers'  League,  New  York  City. 
Playground  and  Recreation  Association  of  Amer- 
ica, New  York  City. 

Russell  Sage  Foundation,  New  York  City — follow- 
ing departments: 

Charity  Organization.  Remedial  Loans. 

Child  Helping.  Surveys  and  Exhibits. 

Education.  Women's  Work. 

Recreation. 

Books  and  Pamphlets 

I.  Helpful  to  Every  Leader: 

Manuals  of  National  Organizations: 

War  Call  to  the  Girls  of  America— the  Book 

of  the  Camp  Fire  Girls.    50  cents. 
The  Girl  Scout  Manual.    50  cents. 
The  Woodcraft  Manual  for  Girls.    50  cents. 


HELPS  FOR  THE  CLUB  LEADER 

Periodicals  issued  by  the  National  Organizations : 
The  Association  Monthly   (Y.   W.   C.   A.). 

$i  a  year. 
The    Club    Worker     (National    League    of 

Women  Workers).    30  cents  a  year. 
The  Rally  (Girl  Scouts).    $i  a  year. 
Wohelo  (Camp  Fire  Girls).    $i  a  year. 

2.  General. 

Richmond,   Mary   E.     Social   Diagnosis.     $2.00. 

Russell  Sage  Foundation. 
Moxey,  Mary  J.    Girlhood  and  Character.    $1.50. 

The  Women's  Press. 
Wilson,   Elizabeth.     Fifty  Years  of  Association 

Work  among  Young  Women.     $1.35.     The 

Women's  Press. 
Addams,  Jane.    The  Spirit  of  Youth  and  the  City 

Streets.    $1.25.    Macmillan. 

Twenty  Years  at  Hull  House.    $1.75.    Mac- 

millan. 
Devine,  Edward  T.    The  Spirit  of  Social  Work. 

$1.00.    Charities  Publishing  Co. 
Woods,  Robert  A.    Young  Working  Girls.    $1.00. 

The  Houghton  Mifflin  Co. 
Espey,  Clara  E.    Leaders  of  Girls.    75  cents.    The 

Women's  Press. 
Daniels,  Harriet  McD.    The  Girl  and  Her  Chance. 

Fleming  H.  Revell  Co. 
Slattery,  Margaret.    The  Girl  in  Her  Teens.    50 

cents.    The  Women's  Press. 

The  Girl  and  Her  Religion.     $1.00.     The 

Women's  Press. 


358  APPENDIX 

Byington,  Margaret  F.  What  Social  Workers 
Should  Know  about  Their  Own  Communities. 
10  cents.  Russell  Sage  Foundation. 

3.  General  Suggestions  for  Club  Work. 
Published  by  the  Women's  Press. 

Gogin,  Eleanor  Gertrude.    Girls'  Work:  The 
Club  and  Its  Organization.     15  cents. 

Girls'  Work :  The  Club  and  Its  Activities. 

15  cents. 

Girls'  Work :  The  Club  and  Its  Leader- 
ship.   15  cents. 

The  Rainbow  Club:  A  Plan  for  Grade 

and  Junior  High  School  Girls.    10  cents. 

The  Be  Square  Club :  A  Plan  for  Young 

Employed  Girls.    10  cents. 

Seaburg,  Anna.    For  Leaders  of  Eight- Week 
Clubs.    15  cents. 

Published  by   the   National   League   of   Women 

Workers. 

Bibliography  for  Club  Leaders.     I  cent. 
Seal  Leaflets.    2  cents  each,  20  cents  a  dozen: 
Hamilton,  Agnes.    Club  Democracy. 
Crespi,  Marguerite.    Junior  Clubs. 
Colesberry,  Deaconess.     Social  Evenings 

for  Character  Building. 
Bell,    Mary.     Suggestions   for  Training 

New  Club  Workers. 

Arens,   Elizabeth.     A  Word  from  Ex- 
perience. 

Perry,  G.  A.     Community  Center  Activities. 
35  cents.    Russell  Sage  Foundation. 


HELPS  FOR  THE  CLUB  LEADER         359 

Pamphlets  on  Organizations. 

Primer    of    Parliamentary   Law.      10   cents. 

Women's  Press. 
Suggested  Constitution  for  Clubs.     10  cents. 

Women's  Press. 
Recognition   Service  for  New  Members.     3 

cents.    Women's  Press. 
Installation    Service    for    New    Officers.      3 

cents.    Women's  Press. 
Model    Treasurer's    Book    for   Girls'    Clubs. 

25  cents.     National  League  of  Women 

Workers. 

4.  For  Leaders  of  Clubs  for  Business  or  Industrial 
Girls. 

Reports  of  Industrial  Club  Federations  and  In- 
dustrial Pamphlets.  The  Women's  Press. 

Abbott,  Edith.  Women  in  Industry.  $2.00.  Ap- 
pleton. 

Gilbert,  Eleanor.  The  Ambitious  Woman  in  Busi- 
ness. $1.00.  Funk  &  Wagnalls. 

V/eaver,  E.  W.  Profitable  Vocations  for  Girls. 
80  cents.  Barnes. 

Woods  and  Kennedy.  Young  Working  Girls. 
$1.00.  The  Houghton  Mifflin  Co. 

Van  Kleeck,  Mary.  Working  Girls  in  Evening 
Schools.  $1.50.  Russell  Sage  Foundation. 

Hewes,  Amy.  Women  as  Munition  Makers.  75 
cents.  Russell  Sage  Foundation. 

Stevens.  Boys  and  Girls  in  Commercial  Work. 
25  cents.  Russell  Sage  Foundation. 


360  APPENDIX 

O'Leary,  Iris  Prouty.  Department  Store  Occu- 
pations. 25  cents.  Russell  Sage  Foundation. 

Norton,  Helen  R.  Department  Store  Education. 
50  cents.  Bulletin  No.  9,  1917.  Bureau  of 
Education,  Washington,  D.  C. 

Thomas,  Helen  L.  Occupations  for  Girls:  Sug- 
gestions for  the  Preparation  of  Vocational 
Charts.  25  cents.  The  Women's  Press. 

Loselle  and  Wiley.  Vocations  for  Girls.  $1.00. 
The  Houghton  Mifflin  Co. 

Bulletins.  National  Society  for  the  Promotion  of 
Industrial  Education. 

5.  For  Clubs  in  Towns  and  Rural  Communities. 

Pamphlets  on  all  phases  of  work  in  Boys'  and 
Girls'  Agricultural  Clubs,  issued  by  the  United 
States  Department  of  Agriculture,  Washing- 
ton, D.  C.  List  furnished  upon  request. 

Field,  Jessie.  College  Women  and  Country  Lead- 
ership. 25  cents.  The  Women's  Press. 

Gale,  Zona.  Civic  Improvement  in  the  Little 
Towns.  25  cents.  American  Civic  Associa- 
tion. 

Clark,  Anna.  Some  Resources  for  Work  with 
Girls  and  Young  Women  in  Towns.  15  cents. 
The  Women's  Press. 

Eight- Week  Club  Packet.  40  cents.  The  Women's 
Press. 

6.  For  Clubs  of  Foreign  Girls. 

Steiner,  E.  S.  On  the  Trail  of  the  Immigrant. 
$1.50.  Fleming  H.  Revell  Co, 


HELPS  FOR  THE  CLUB  LEADER         361 

Strong,  Josiah.  The  Challenge  of  the  City.  35 
cents.  Young  People's  Missionary  Movement. 

Eight- Week  Clubs  for  Immigrant  Girls.  15  cents. 
The  Women's  Press. 

7.  On  Club  Activities. 

Physical  Development  Activities. 

Hanmer  and  Knight.  Sources  of  Informa- 
tion on  Play  and  Recreation.  10  cents. 
Russell  Sage  Foundation. 

Lee,  Joseph.  Play  in  Education.  $1.50. 
Macmillan. 

Published  by  the  Playground  and  Recreation 

Association  of  America: 
What  the  Playgrounds  Can  Do  for  Girls. 
Games  Every  Child  Should  Know. 
Folk  and  National  Dances. 
The  Home  Playground. 

Girls'  Athletic  Official  Handbook  of  the  Girls' 
Branch  of  the  Public  Schools  Athletic 
League  of  New  York  City.  10  cents. 
American  Sports  Publishing  Co. 

Spalding's  Athletic  Library — a  series  of  book- 
lets giving  specific  information  on  how 
to  play  various  American  sports.  10 
cents.  American  Sports  Publishing  Co. 

Athletic  Badge  Test  for  Girls.  5  cents.  Play- 
ground and  Recreation  Association  of 
America. 

Brown,  Anna  L.,  M.  D.  The  Committee  on 
Hygiene  and  Physical  Education.  10 
cents.  The  Women's  Press. 


362  APPENDIX 

First  Aid  Manual.  Woman's  Edition.  30 
cents.  American  Red  Cross. 

Bancroft,  Jessie  H.  Games  for  the  Play- 
ground, Home,  School,  and  Gymnasium. 
$1.50.  Macmillan. 

Geister,  Edna.  Ice  Breakers.  A  Book  of 
Games  and  Stunts.  $1.00.  The  Women's 
Press. 

Crampton,  Ward.  Folk  Dance  Book.  $1.50. 
Barnes. 

Burchenal,  Elizabeth.  Dances  of  the  People. 
$1.50.  Schirmer. 

Sex  Education. 

Addams,  Jane.     A  New  Conscience  and  an 

Ancient  Evil.    $1.00.    Macmillan. 
Miner,  Maude  E.    Slavery  of  Prostitution. 
Smith,  Nellie.    Three  Gifts  of  Life.    60  cents. 

Dodd,  Mead  &  Co. 
Wood-Allen,    Mrs.    Mary.     What   a   Young 

Girl   Ought  to   Know.     Vir  Publishing 

Company. 

Dramatic  Activities. 

Clapp,  H.  M.  Plays  for  Amateurs:  a  Bib- 
liography. 25  cents.  Drama  League  of 
America. 

Chubb,  Percival  and  Associates.  Festivals 
and  Plays  in  School  and  Elsewhere. 
$2.00.  Harper. 

Mackay,  Constance  D'Arcy.  Costumes  and 
Scenery  for  Amateurs.  A  Practical 
Working  Handbook.  $175.  Henry  Holt. 


HELPS  FOR  THE  CLUB  LEADER         363 

Mackay,  Constance  D'Arcy.  Patriotic  Pag- 
eants and  Plays  for  Young  People.  $1.35. 
Henry  Holt. 

Educational  Activities. 

American  School  of  Home  Economics.    $5.00 
a  set,  including: 

1.  The  Handbook  of  Food  and  Diet. 

2.  The  Handbook  of  Housekeeping. 

3.  The  Handbook  of  Health  and  Nursing. 

4.  The  Handbook  of  Dress  and  Child- 

hood. 
Beard,  Lina  and  Adelia  B.    American  Girls' 

Handy  Book:    Things  worth  doing  and 

how  to  do  them.    $1.50.    Scribner. 
Lyford,  Carrie  Alberta.    Three  Short  Courses 

in  Home  Making.    Bureau  of  Education, 

Department  of  the  Interior,  Washington, 

D.  C. 
Bulletin  No.  23.     National  Society  for  the 

Promotion  of  Industrial  Education. 
National  Education  Association.    Thrift.    25 

cents.     Ann  Arbor,  Mich. 
Personal    Account    Book.      10   cents.      The 

Women's  Press. 

'Literary  Activities. 

Poems  and  Books  that  Girls  Like.    Per  100, 

$1.00.    The  Women's  Press. 
Lyman,  Edna.     Story  Telling,  What  to  Tell 

and  How  to  Tell  It.  75  cents.  Macmillan. 
Bailey,  Carolyn  S.     For  the  Story  Teller. 

$1.50.    Bradley. 


364  APPENDIX 

Pyle,  Katharine.  Fairy  Tales  from  Many 
Lands.  $1.50.  E.  P.  Button  &  Co. 

Seymour,  Charles.  Speaking  in  Public. 
$1.25.  E.  P.  Button  &  Co. 

Outdoor  Activities. 

Chapman,  Frank.  Bird  Life.  $2.00.  Apple- 
ton. 

Miller,  Olive  Thorne.  First  Book  of  Birds. 
60  cents.  The  Houghton  Mifflin  Co. 

Mathews,  F.  S.  Field  Book  of  American 
Wild  Flowers.  $1.75.  Putnam. 

Mathews,  F.  S.  Familiar  Trees  and  Their 
Leaves.  $1.75.  Appleton. 

Milham,  Willis  I.  How  to  Identify  the  Stars. 
75  cents.  Macmillan. 

8.  On  Community  Relationship. 

Franc,  Alissa.  Use  Your  Government.  E.  P. 
Button  &  Co. 

Allen,  W.  H.  Woman's  Part  in  the  Government. 
$1.35.  Bodd,  Mead  &  Co. 

Brown,  Mrs.  Raymond.  Your  Vote  and  How  to 
Use  It.  75  cents.  Harper. 

Austin,  Mary.  The  Young  Woman  Citizen.  $1.00. 
The  Women's  Press. 

Blatch,  Harriet  Stanton.  Mobilizing  Woman- 
Power.  $1.25.  The  Women's  Press, 


SAMPLE  CONSTITUTIONS 

Selected  from  Clubs  in  the  N.  Y.  City  Neighborhood  Association 


CONSTITUTION  OF  THE 

ARTICLE  I 

NAME 

This  organization  shall  be  known  as  the        •    , 
ARTICLE  II 

OBJECT 

Its  object  shall  be  the  social  and  intellectual  development  of 
its  members. 

ARTICLE  III 

MEETINGS 

SECTION  i.  The  regular  meeting  of  this  Club  shall  be  held  on 
Thursday  evening  of  each  week  at  quarter  after  eight. 

SEC.  2.  The  meeting  shall  be  opened  with  the  Club  song 
and  cheer,  followed  by  a  song  chosen  by  the  President.  The 
minutes  of  the  last  meeting  and  the  Treasurer's  report  shall 

365 


366  APPENDIX 

follow,  interspersed  with  songs  at  the  direction  of  the  President. 
The  meetings  shall  follow  according  to  previous  arrangements. 

SEC.  3.  A  business  meeting  shall  be  held  on  the  first  Thurs- 
day of  each  month  at  which  time  all  business  shall  be  transacted, 
all  applications  for  membership  shall  be  received  and  voted  upon, 
and  a  program  for  the  remainder  of  the  month  shall  be  arranged. 
No  business  shall  be  brought  up  at  any  other  meeting  of  the 
month  unless  it  has  been  previously  voted  to  adjourn  the  busi- 
ness to  that  date,  or  unless  requested  by  the  officers  and  two 
other  members. 

SEC.  4.  Any  change  affecting  the  government  of  this  Club 
must  be  voted  upon  and  carried  by  a  two-third  vote  of  the 
members  present  at  any  regular  business  meeting  of  the  Club. 


ARTICLE  IV 

OFFICERS 

The  officers  of  this  Club  shall  consist  of  a  President,  Vice- 
President,  Secretary,  Treasurer  and  Assistant  Treasurer.  None 
but  members  of  the  Club  shall  hold  office. 


ARTICLE  V 

QUORUM 

Twelve  members  of  the  Club  shall  constitute  a  quorum  for 
the  transaction  of  business. 

ARTICLE  VI 

DUES 

The  dues  of  this  Club  shall  be  three  cents  a  week,  this  sum 
to  be  collected  by  the  Assistant  Treasurer  each  week. 


SAMPLE  CONSTITUTIONS  367 


ARTICLE  VII 

MEMBERS 

SECTION  I.  Any  girl  wishing  to  become  a  member  must  be 
recommended  by  the  Membership  Committee  and  approved  by 
the  leader  of  the  Club  before  her  name  can  be  voted  upon. 

SEC.  2.  A  majority  of  votes  cast  shall  decide  whether  she  shall 
be  a  member  of  the  Club. 

SEC.  3.  Each  member,  after  being  admitted  to  membership, 
shall  sign  the  Constitution. 

SEC.  4.  The  membership  of  this  Club  shall  be  limited  to 

members. 


ARTICLE  VIII 

VOTING 

SECTION  i.  The  election  of  officers  shall  be  held  in  the  fol- 
lowing manner:  A  nomination  committee  composed  of  four 
members  shall  be  chosen  by  the  leader.  They  shall  choose  two 
candidates  for  each  office.  The  election  shall  then  proceed  by 
ballot  and  the  candidate  receiving  a  majority  of  the  votes  cast 
shall  be  declared  elected. 

SEC.  2.  Three  successive  absences  without  a  written  excuse 
shall  forfeit  membership. 

SEC.  3.  Failure  to  pay  dues  for  one  month  will  forfeit  mem- 
bership. 


ARTICLE  IX 

TERM   OF   OFFICE 

Officers  shall  hold  office  for  six  months. 
f 


368  APPENDIX 

ARTICLE  X 

AMENDMENTS 

This  Constitution  may  be  amended  by  a  two-thirds  vote  of 
the  members  present  at  any  business  meeting. 

BY-LAWS 
ARTICLE  I 

DUTIES  OF  OFFICERS 

SECTION  i.  The  duties  of  the  President  are  to  preside  at  every 
meeting.  She  shall  have  power  in  case  of  a  tie  to  cast  a 
deciding  vote. 

SEC.  2.  The  Vice-President  shall  perform  all  the  duties  of  the 
President  in  her  absence.  She  shall  be  chairman  of  all  com- 
mittees. 

SEC.  3.  The  duties  of  the  Secretary  are  to  keep  a  correct  ac- 
count of  all  the  proceedings  of  the  Club.  She  shall  keep  a 
list  of  the  names  and  residences  of  the  members. 

SEC.  4.  The  duties  of  the  Treasurer  are  to  keep  a  correct 
account  of  all  money  received  and  disbursed  by  her  as  the 
Treasurer  of  the  Club. 

SEC.  5.  The  duties  of  the  Assistant-Treasurer  are  to  perform 
all  the  duties  of  the  Treasure/  in  her  absence,  and  to  collect 
the  dues. 

The  President  in  conducting  meetings  shall  strictly  observe  the 
following  rules: 

1.  No  subject  shall  be  discussed  without  being  regularly  moved 
and  seconded. 

2.  No  member  shall  be  allowed  to  speak  unless  she  first  ad- 
dresses the  President  and  is  acknowledged  by  her. 

ARTICLE  II 

COMMITTEES 

The  Club  shall  have  an  Entertainment  Committee  composed 
of  three  members,  and  a  Membership  Committee  composed  of 
three  members,  appointed  by  the  President  at  the  beginning  of 
her  term  of  office. 


SAMPLE  CONSTITUTIONS  369 

ARTICLE  III 

DUTIES  OF  THE  COMMITTEES 

The  Entertainment  Committee  shall  have  charge  of  all  the 
social  activities  of  the  Club. 

The  Membership  Committee  shall  receive  all  applications  for 
new  members  and  shall  confer  with  the  Leader  of  the  Club 
before  recommending  any  girl  for  membership.  They  shall  ex- 
amine the  roll  books  and  warn  the  members  who  have  been 
absent  for  two  successive  weeks  without  a  written  excuse.  They 
shall  notify  those  whose  names  have  been  dropped. 

Each  committee  shall  present  a  written  report  at  the  business 
meeting  each  month  in  which  it  shall  state  the  work  of  the 
Committee  during  the  previous  month. 


CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  JANE  ADDAMS  CLUB 

WHEREAS,  we,  the  members  of  the  Club,  feel  that  through 
organization  we  can  be  of  greater  use  to  the  community,  pro- 
mote our  own  welfare,  and  live  up  to  the  meaning  of  our  name, 
the  Jane  Addams  Club,  we  have  formed  this  Club  and  do 
establish  this  constitution. 


ARTICLE  I 

NAME 

This  Club  shall  be  known  as  the  Jane  Addams  Club. 
ARTICLE  II 

OBJECT 

The  object  of  this  Club  shall  be  to  promote  comradeship  and 
to  further  all-round  development. 


370  APPENDIX 

ARTICLE  III 

MEMBERSHIP 

SECTION  i.  The  members  of  this  Club  shall  number  not  more 
than  twenty. 

SEC.  2.  Election  of  new  candidates:  Any  candidate  for  mem- 
bership must  not  be  younger  than  the  youngest  and  not  older 
than  the  oldest  of  the  Club.  She  must  be  a  graduate  of  grammar 
school.  She  shall  fill  out  an  application  blank  which  will  be 
passed  upon  by  the  Investigation  Committee. 

SEC.  3.  A  candidate  for  membership  after  filling  out  the  ap- 
plication blank  and  being  approved  by  the  Investigation  Com- 
mittee may  become  a  member  of  the  Club  unless  black-balled 
by  three  of  the  members  present. 

SEC.  4.  If  a  member  is  absent  for  two  meetings  in  succession 
without  a  written  excuse,  she  shall  be  warned  by  the  Secretary. 
If  she  is  neither  present  nor  excused  by  the  next  meeting  she 
shall  be  dropped  from  the  Club  and  not  be  eligible  for  mem- 
bership for  the  remainder  of  the  year. 

SEC.  5.  Resignation.  A  member  wishing  to  resign  or  obtain 
a  leave  of  absence  must  present  a  written  request  to  the  Secre- 
tary. This  shall  be  voted  on  by  the  Club.  No  resignation  will 
be  accepted  nor  leave  of  absence  granted  until  all  back  dues 
are  paid  up.  Two-thirds  vote  of  the  members  present  is  required. 

SEC.  6.  Expulsion.  A  member  who  is  considered  undesirable 
may  be  expelled  by  two-thirds  vote  of  the  Club. 

ARTICLE  IV 

OFFICERS 

SECTION  i.  The  officers  of  this  Club  shall  be  president,  vice- 
president,  secretary,  treasurer,  editor  and  sergeant-at-arms. 
Their  term  of  office  shall  be  six  months  and  shall  be  elected 
at  last  meeting  and  election  in  the  spring. 

SEC.  2.  An  officer  may  be  removed  for  neglect  of  duty  on  two- 
thirds  vote  of  the  members  present  when  charges  are  brought. 

SEC.  3.  No  girl  can  hold  office  until  she  has  been  in  the  Club 
six  months. 


SAMPLE  CONSTITUTIONS  371 


ARTICLE  V 

COMMITTEES 

SECTION  i.  The  standing  committees  of  this  Club  shall  be: 
House  Committee,  Membership  Committee,  Program  Committee 
and  Finance  Committee.  They  shall  consist  of  three  members 
each,  and  shall  be  appointed  by  the  President  for  six  months. 

ARTICLE  VI 

MISDEMEANORS 

SECTION  i.  It  shall  be  a  misdemeanor  for  any  member  of  this 
Club  to  behave  in  any  but  a  ladylike  way.  It  shall  be  a  mis- 
demeanor to  be  disloyal  to  the  Settlement  or  to  the  Club. 

ARTICLE  VII 

ORDER  OF  BUSINESS 

The  order  of  business  shall  be: 

1.  Calling  of  meeting  to  order  by  the  president. 

2.  Calling  of  the  roll  by  the  secretary. 

3.  Collection  of  dues  by  the  treasurer. 

4.  Reading  of  the  minutes  of  the  previous  meeting  and 

their  correction  and  approval. 

5.  Reading  of  communications. 

6.  Reports  of  committees. 

7.  Unfinished  business. 

8.  New  business. 

9.  Adjournment  of  the  meeting. 

ARTICLE  VIII 

The  dues  of  the  Club  shall  be  five  cents  for  every  meeting 
whether  the  girl  is  present  or  not. 


372  APPENDIX 


ARTICLE  IX 

AMENDMENT 

SECTION  I.  The  Constitution  may  be  amended  by  two-thirds 
vote  of  the  members  present.  An  amendment  should  be  pre- 
sented in  writing  the  week  before  it  is  voted  upon. 

ARTICLE  X 

SECTION  i.  Quorum  shall  consist  of  two-thirds  of  the  members. 

SEC.  2.  All  questions  shall  be  settled  by  a  majority  vote  of 
those  present  except  (i)  it  shall  require  a  two-thirds  vote  of 
those  present  to  approve  a  resignation  or  grant  a  leave  of 
absence  or  to  remove  an  officer  from  office,  or  to  amend  the 
Constitution;  (2)  it  shall  require  a  two-thirds  vote  of  the  Club 
to  expel  a  member;  (3)  three  black  balls  can  prevent  the  ad- 
mission of  a  new  member. 


CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  BETSY  ROSS  CLUB 
ARTICLE  I 

NAME 

This  organization  shall  be  known  as  the  Betsy  Ross  Club. 
ARTICLE  II 

AIM    AND   PURPOSE 

1.  To  help  us  to  become  good  women. 

2.  To  be  of  service  to  the  Settlement. 


SAMPLE  CONSTITUTIONS  373 

ARTICLE  III 

MEMBERSHIP 

1.  Prospective  member  shall  be  at  least  15  years  of  age,  and 
at  least  a  graduate  of  Elementary  School. 

2.  She  shall  be  present  at  the  meeting  at  which  she  is  pro- 
posed and  be  voted  on  at  the  next  meeting,  at  which  time  she 
shall  not  be  present. 

3.  Favorable  vote  of  two-thirds  necessary  for  election.    Three 
negatives  put  her  out. 

ARTICLE  IV 

OFFICERS 

1.  Officers  of  this  Club  shall  be : 

a.  President.  c.  Secretary. 

b.  Vice-President.  d.  Treasurer. 

e.  Sergeant-at-Arms. 

2.  Election  of  officers  shall  take  place  every  four  months  of 
the  Club  year;  namely,  at  the  first  regular  meeting  in  October 
and  February. 

3.  A  majority  of  the  members  present  shall  be  necessary  for 
election. 

4.  To  be  officers  in  this  Club  a  member  shall  have  been  a 
member  of  the  Settlement  one  year  or  more. 

ARTICLE  V 

DUTIES  OF  OFFICERS 

1.  The  President  shall  preside  at  all  meetings. 

2.  The  Vice-President  shall  preside  in  case  of  absence  of  the 
President. 

3.  The  Secretary  shall  keep  the  minutes  of  all  regular  meet- 
ings. 

4.  The  Treasurer  shall  collect  all  dues  and  keep  a  record. 

5.  The  Sergeant-at-Arms  shall  answer  the  door. 


374  APPENDIX 

• 

ARTICLE  VI 

MEETINGS 

This  Club  shall  meet  every  Saturday  from  7:30  to  9  p.  M. 

ARTICLE  VII 

Each  member  shall  pay  five  cents  each  week— two  cents  of 
which  to  be  devoted  to  a  camp  fund. 

BY-LAWS 

1.  Two-thirds  of  the  members  shall  be  a  quorum. 

2.  This   constitution   may   be   changed   or  amended   by   two- 
thirds  vote. 

3.  Any  member  absent  three  times  in  succession  without  good 
excuse  shall  be  asked  to  resign. 

4.  Where  the  reason  for  absence  is  not  known  it  shall  be  the 
duty  of  Secretary  to  mail  written  warning  after  second  absence. 

5.  A  committee  consisting  of  the  Vice-President  as  Chairman, 
and  not  less  than  one  nor  more  than  two  other  members  shall 
be  appointed  by  the  President  to  visit  in  all  cases  of  sickness 
among   Club   members,   and   make   a   report   at   the   following 
meeting. 

6.  There  shall  be  at  least  15  members  to  form  this  Club. 


SAMPLE  CONSTITUTIONS  375 


CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  DIXIE  CLUB 

1.  There  shall  be  a  president,  vice-president,  secretary  and  a 
treasurer.  * 

2.  The  standard  time  of  all  meetings  is  8:30  P.  M.    The  dues 
are  5  cents  weekly. 

3.  No  new  member  shall  be  admitted  under  18  years  of  age. 

4.  No  girl  shall  leave  the  club  room  during  a  business  meeting. 
While  business  meeting  is  going  on  no  girl  shall  speak  except 
when  addressing  the  chair. 

5.  There  shall  be  a  business  meeting  the  last  week  of  every 
month. 

6.  There  shall  be  a  new  election  every  six  months. 

7.  Upon  the  admittance  of  a  new  member  into  the  Club,  the 
constitution  shall  be  read  to  her. 

8.  She  in  turn  will  be  asked  to  pledge  herself  to  stand  by 
the  constitution,  and  try  to  enforce  it. 

Officers'  Duties 

The  president  takes  absolute  charge  and  presides  over  all 
meetings. 

The  vice-president  takes  charge  when  the  president  is  absent 
or  away. 

The  secretary  keeps  all  minutes,  answers  letters  addressed  to 
the  Club  and  writes  all  letters  for  the  Club. 

The  Treasurer  collects  all  dues  and  pays  all  bills. 

(All  the  constitutions  in  operation  at  East  Side  House  are 
built  on  the  general  lines  of  the  above  except  that  some  have 
a  provision  for  the  payment  of  a  two-cent  fine  if  late  at  a 
meeting,) 


INDEX 


Activities,  inclusion  in  Club  pro- 
gram, 111-130 
with  special  appeal  to  girls, 

131-158 
physical    development,    131- 

140 
dramatic,  and  pageants,  140- 

148 

literary,  148-154 
special  topics  concerning,  154- 

158 

Addams,  Jane,  quoted,  276 
Aesthetic  dancing,  137,  138,  165 
Age,    as    a    consideration    for 

membership,  43,  56-61 
considered   in   planning   pro- 
gram, 113,  114 
Agriculture,  U.  S.  Dept.  of,  4, 

51,81,82,211,225-235 
Agriculture  clubs.    See  Clubs 
Antagonism    among    members, 

51,52 

to  study  and  work,  159 
Art  courses,  165,  185 
Asquith,  quoted,  326 
Athletics  and  sports,  131-140 
badge  test,  135 


B 

Badges  for  athletic  accomplish- 
ment, 135 

"Better  Babies,"  195 
"Big  Sister,"  40,  199,  200 
Birds  and  Plants,  course  in,  166 
Book  games,  152 
Book-keeping,  course  in,  164 
Books   to  interest   Club   mem- 
bers, 148-152 
Bulletin  board,  304,  305 
Business  course,  164,  185 

girls,  1 6,  265 

meetings,  97-99,  125 
Butler,  Secondary  Schools  urvey, 

35 

Byington,  What  social  workers 
should  know  about  their 
community ',  32 


Camp,  self-supporting,  108 

Camp  craft,  223 

Camping  trip,  preparations  for, 

237-240 

personal  equipment,  238 
site  and  general  equipment, 
239 


377 


378 


INDEX 


Camping   trip,    daily  schedule, 

240 

camp  activities,  242 
Camp  Fire  Girls,  3,  4,  9,  17 

age  for  membership,  57 

ceremony,  98,  99 

honors,  224,  242,  253,  254 

Of  N.  J.,  212 

of  East  Orange,  216,  223 
plan  for  plays,  146,  147 
program  plan,  112,  127 
Certificates,  188,  189 

girls'  work,  34i~345 
Children,  care  of,  3 

course  in  care  of,  172,  197 
Children's  Bureau,  Washington, 

3,  195 

Christodora  House  Settlement, 
N.  Y.,  plays  chosen, 
141 

citizenship  course,  206 
City,  Club's  relation  to,  206-211 
government,  course  in,  206- 

208 

vegetable  gardens,  234 
Civic  activities,  268 

exhibits,  209 

Civics,  course  in,  165,  206-208 
Classes,  159-194 
kind  of,  161-166 
advertising  them,  166-169 
conducting  them,  182-184 
duration  of,  185,  186 
time  of  sessions,  185,  186 
attendance,  187 
certificates,  188,  189 
Clothing,  choice,  purchase  and 

care  of,  course  in,  173 
Clubs,  agriculture,  81,  82 


Clubs,  apple,  226 

Audubon,  234 

bird,  234 

book,  10,  1 6,  148 

budget,  109,  173,  258,  259 

Butler's  secondary  school,  126 

canning,  5,  211,  226 

dramatic,  145,  146 

corn,  226 
record,  231 

country  community,  211,  212 

cowfeeding  and  testing,  225 

"Dolly  Madison,"  58,  75,  77 

"eight- week,"  49 

factory,    55,    56,    257,    258, 
265-268 

field,  224 

food  conservation,  3,  4,  5 

glee,  164 

"good  neighbors,"  197  198 

Larkin  Company's,  208,  209 

pig,  211 

progress,  54,  73,  199,  225 

poultry,  211,  230 

sheep,  225,  227 

store,  54,  56,  257,  258,  265, 
268 

working-girls',  196 
Club  room  furnishings,  312-314 
Club  Sunday  teas  (Albany,  N. 

Y.),  205 
welcome,  68 
Club    Work    exhibits   of,    190, 

194 

Coaching  for  dramatics,  145 
Committees,  membership,  92-94 
Community,  to  be  studied  by 
Leader,  31-35 

Christmas  Tree,  210 


INDEX 


379 


Constitutions,  Club,  74-82 

Hartley  House  Clubs,  74 

Dolly  Madison  Club,  75~77 

Y.  W.  C.  A.  Club,  78 
Consumer's  League,  214 
Contests,  membership,  64-66 

other,  290-303 

Council  of  National  Defense,  3, 4 
County  agent,  228,  230 

fair,  231,  232,  233 
Courses,  I59-I94 

cooking,  162,  164,  170,  171 

crochet,  165,  170 

dietetics,  165,  172 

domestic  science,  163,  169,  170 

dressmaking,  163,  169,  170 

elocution,  164 

embroidery,  163,  170 

English  literature,  164 

etiquette,  166 

first  aid,  165,  167 

"First  Aid  to  Beauty,"  165, 
181,  182 

French,  164 

German,  164 

grammar,  164,  174,  175 

home-making,  163,  171-174 

house-planning  and  decorating, 

173,  174 

hygiene  and  home-nursing, 
165,  172,  185 

jewelry-making,  164,  168, 

knitting,  163,  170 

language,  164,  174 

manicuring,  165 

millinery,  163,  169,  170,  173 

music  and  musical  apprecia- 
tion, 165,  185 

musical  composers,  165 


Courses,  novelty,  164 

opera,  165,  182 

orchestral  music,  165 

painting,  165 

parliamentary  law,  165 

physical  cure,  165,  181 

poster-designing,  165 

reading,  164 

Red  Cross,  165,  177,  178 

religious,  166 

rug- weaving,  164 

salesmanship,  164,  179-181 

short  story,  164,  185 

social  ethics,  166 

Spanish,  164 

stenography,  164 

surgical  dressings,  165 

swimming,  165 

travel,  166 

typewriting,  164 

watercolor  painting,  165 
Current  Events  classes,  165, 175, 
176 


Dancing,  in  the  Club  program, 

136-140 
classes,  165 

Debates,  153 

Disciplining  Club  members, 
276-280,  321-324 

Dolly  Madison  Club,  New  York 
City  College  Settlement, 
constitution,  75-77,  mem- 
bership rules,  58 

Dramatics,  140-148 

Drama  League  plays,  142 

Dues,  103 


INDEX 


Factory  laws,  violations  of,  203 
Finances,  Club,  103-109 
fines    to   help   members  and 

others,  198 
Folk  dancing,  137,  165 


George  Junior  Republic,  64 
.  Girl  Scouts,  4,  5,  8 

age  for  membership,  57, 223 
Girls'  Friendly  Society,  age  for 

membership,  57 
list  of  plays,  142 
reading  circles,  150,  200 
members  who  move,  205 
Girls'   Protective  League,  201- 

205 

Girls*  work,  341,  345 
Gogin,    Girls'    Work,    plan    for 

first  meetings,  85-88 
Groups,    separate,    inside    the 

Club,  53,  54 

Gulick,  Dr.  L.  H.,  quoted,  41 
Gymnasium  class,  165 

H 

Hartley  House   Club   constitu- 
tions, 74 

Health,   of  workeu  in  various 
occupations,  recreations  pro- 
moting, 118-119 
honors,  254-256 

Helping  other  Clubs,  200 
other  girls,  197-201 

Hikes,  236,  237 

Home  Craft  honors,  253,  254 


Home  conditions  of  members, 
28-30,  115,  116 

Honors  in  everyday  life  of  girl, 

251-270 
records  of,  268 

Hostels,  328 

Household,  management,  course 
in,  172 

Hull  House,  leaders,  21 

Junior  Clubs,  age  for  mem- 
bership, 57 
Clubs  pay  rental,  108 
club  program  suggested,  121 
essential    features    in    pro- 
gram, 128 

Hutchins,  Wm.  N.,  list  of  coop- 
erating activities,  217,  218 

Hygiene,  personal.     See  Health 

I 

Immigrant  girls,  clubs  among, 
18,50 


Labor  laws,  violations  of,  203 

Lathrop,  Julia  C.,  3 

Leader,  her  general  task,  14-41 
who?  16 

special  qualifications,  18-20 
general  qualifications,  22-27 
getting  acquainted  with  girls, 

28-30 

with  community,  31-35 
contact  with  other    Leaders, 

36,  37 

training  courses,  37,  38 
publications  for,  39 
report  sheet,  100 


INDEX 


Library  Association  and  other 
lists  of  books,  149 

Literary  activities  in  the  pro- 
gram, 148-154 
clubs,  1 8 

M 

"  Meet-my-Friend ' '    movement, 

205 

Meetings,  length  of,  119 
Membership,  personnel,  42-46; 

age,  43,  56-61 

occupation,  44 

congeniality,  47 

acquiring  members,  48,  64-67 

invitations  to,  49 

size,  52,  53 

voting  on,  61 

forfeiting,  63 

probation,  62 

methods  of  enlarging  64-67 

boys  admitted?  68 

dues,  103 

Miner,  Miss  Maude,  201 
Mock  trials,  153 
Mothers'  Parties,  287 
Mottoes  and  colors  for  Clubs, 

94-96 

Moving  picture  ordinances,  vio- 
lations of,  203 

N 

Naming  a  Club,  94-96 
National   Educational  Associa- 
tion, Thrift  Movement,  259, 
261 

League  of  Women  Workers, 
organization,  89 


National    League    of    Women 
Workers,  its  model  Treas- 
urers' book,  106-107 
lists  of  plays,  142 
Society  for  Promotion  of  In- 
dustrial Education,   bul- 
letin   on    recreation    for 
workers,  118 
list  of  courses,  172,  173 
Nationality    of    members    con- 
sidered in  planning  work 
116 
Notices  to  members,  305,  306 


Occupation  as  a  consideration 

for  membership,  43 
in  plan  of  work,  117-119 
Officers,  who  and  how  chosen, 

90,91 
Order  of  business  for  business 

meetings,  98 

Organization,  value  of,  73-82 
constitutions,  75-82 
Baltimore  Progress  Club,  73 
Hartley  House  Clubs,  74 
starting  it,  83-89 
Organizations,  local  and  national, 

interest  in,  212-216 
list  of  these  with  which  Girls' 

Clubs  cooperate,  214-216 
Outdoor  activities,  221-250 


Pageants,  144 

Parliamentary  law,  use  of,  83,  84 

in  Hull  House,  121 
Parties,  285-290 


3*2 


INDEX 


Patriotic  League,  6,  7,  8 
Periodicals  of  Girls'  Clubs,  39 
Personal  account  book,  262,  263 
Petrograd,  Girls'  Club  worker, 

335 
Photographs  of  club  activities, 

102,  103,  147 
Physical  activities,  131-140 

games  and  teams,  132,  134 

badges  and  tests,  138 

drills,  134 

Playground  Association,  214 
Plays,  140-148 
Posters  for  advertising  classes, 

168 

contests,  307 
Program   of  year's  work,   plan 

Of,  III,  112 

special  considerations,  113-120 
activities  chosen,  121 
essentials,  122-125 
variety  needed,  125-130 
suggested  schedule  for  year, 

128,  129 
Protective  League,  Girls',  201- 

205,  268 


Records  of  Club  activities,  99- 

103 

blank  form,  101 
of  leader,  102,  103 
of  Secretary,  99-103 
Recreation,  types  of,  needed  for 

girls,  1 1 8,  119 
Red    Cross    work    by    Girls' 

Clubs,  5 

forming  groups,  51 
Religious  life  of  girl,  268 


Report,  of  work,  308-310 

sheet  for  Leaders,  101 
Richmond,  Social  Diagnosis,  29 
Roll  Call,  how  to  add  interest 
to,  98 


"Save  for  Vacation,"  idea,  258, 

259 
School,    relating    the   Club    to, 

256,  257 

Settlements,  college  and  social- 
membership  applications,  45 
age    for    membership,    Dolly 
Madison  Club,  58 
its  constitution,  75-77 
Summer  Camp,  108 
clubs,  150 
Girls'  Association  of  All  Clubs, 

200 

Club  discipline,  279 
Singing  essential  in  program,  123 
Size  of  Clubs,  52,  53 
Social  Dancing,  138-140,  165 
Social  service,  4,  195-220 
in  the  neighborhood,  197 
for  the  Sunday  School,  217, 

218 

Review,    list    of   forms    of 
cooperative  personal  ser- 
vice, 218-220 
Social  survey,  the  kind  useful 

to  Leader,  31-35 
Sports,  131-136 

Standardized  Club,  the,  109,  no 
Starting  a  Club,  48-52 
Story-telling    as    a    means    of 
creating  interest  in  books, 


INDEX 


3*3 


Thrift,  258 

monograph  on,  261 

stamps,  258 

Topics  for  lectures  and  discus- 
sions, 155-158 
Treasurers'  book,  106-107 
Triangle  Shirtwaist  fire,  203 


Vacation    Association    of    New 

York,  258 

Van  Kleeck,  Miss  Mary,  340 
Vassar  Girls'  Message,  337 

W 
W.  A.  A.  C.s,  331 

Wanamaker  Stores,  54,  166,  167 

War    and    Navy    Departments 

Commissioner  on    Training 

Camp  Activities,  5 

War,  Girls'  Clubs  in  relation  to 

the,  2,  3 
war  service,  3 
"Over  there,"  325-337 
"Over  here,"  338-351 
Welcome  to  new  members,  68 


Woman's  Land  Army,  338-340 
Women's  Land  Army,  326 
Woodcraft  League,  age  for  mem- 
bership, 57,  223 
its  manual,  224 


Y.  W.  C.  A.  summer  camps,  223 
War  Work  Council,  6 
Survey  pamphlet,  33-35 
Junior   Clubs  in   New  York 
City,  age  for  membership, 

57 
report   of   work,   West   Side, 

New  York  City,  309,  310 
Federation  of  Industrial  Girls' 

Clubs,  conference  voting 

on  members,  62 
records  of  activities,  99 

Club  constitution,  78-82 
report  on  class  methods,  183, 

184 

interclub  help,  201 
pamphlet     on     citizenship, 

206-208 

Business    Girls'    Clubs    pro- 
grams, 112,  126,  127 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 
BERKELEY 

Return  to  desk  from  which  borrowed. 
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